Hoping For A Better Future BOOK ONE
by bakaprincess85
Summary: One day after the end of Harry's third year, he wanders the castle when suddenly a whole package of books falls on his head. Read my version of Reading the HP Series! REPOST!
1. Prologue The Letter

**Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to JK Rowling I own nothing. Writing in bold comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

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**Hoping For A Better Future**

**BOOK ONE**

_Prologue - The Letter_

It was nearing midnight and Harry Potter was still awake. No matter how much he tried to fall asleep, it was impossible, for he had too much on his mind. It was only last week that he had met his godfather Sirius Black for the first time and found out that he hadn't betrayed his parents to Voldemort, but instead it was another friend of his father's by the name of Peter Pettigrew that did. It was only last week that his favourite teacher in the whole world, Remus Lupin, resigned and left the castle. No matter how much his friends meant to him and how much time he spent with them, he couldn't help but feel lonely. It took all his willpower not to break down crying when the realization that he couldn't go and live with his godfather and instead had to return to his relatives set in. If only he had caught Pettigrew before he ran away, if only Lupin hadn't forgotten his potion (not that he blamed him), if only… if only… if only…

Suddenly it was too much for Harry as he slid down the wall and rested his head on his knees, his robes absorbing the tears that slid through his eyes that he closed. He was unaware of the pain in his nose where his glasses were digging into his flesh, but he did suddenly become aware of the pain in his head as something fell on top of it.

"OW!" he yelped as he looked on the floor next to him where a package was laying innocently. He picked it up with one hand while massaging his head with the other. It was an innocent looking package and Harry opened it (he was curious as to how a package of books fell on his head out of nowhere after all). Inside the package, there were seven books. After reading the title of the first book he almost dropped the whole package on his toes. Its title was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. But it was impossible – for as far as he knew, the only books that he was mentioned in where Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. And even that piece of information came from Hermione Granger, one of his best friends and the smartest witch he knew (even if she was a nag sometimes). He knew that she would have told him if there were other books written about him.

He quickly skimmed over the titles of the other books and they all started with his name. Curious to know more, he went to open the first book and see what was written about him, but the book wouldn't open past the first page and the piece of parchment that was stuck on it. Instead of trying to force the pages of the book to open, he went to read what was written on the parchment.

_Dear Harry,_

_You must be wondering who wrote those books about you and why Hermione didn't know about it._

Harry blinked at the first sentence, for that was indeed what he was wondering about. He thought the sentence over for a few more minutes and then gasped. Could it be that the writer of this letter was from the future? Or even his future self? He knew about time-travelling, because Hermione was in the possession of a time-turner for the past school year and he had even travelled to the past and saved Sirius from the Dementors. With that realization, he quickly turned his attention back to the letter.

_Yep, you guessed correctly. I am your future self – or at least your previous future self if you decide to change the future after you've read this book and the other six that are in the package. Each of the books is a story about one of your years at Hogwarts and they are to be read in this order:_

_- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_

_- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_

_- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_

_- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_

_- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_

_- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_

_- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_

_The first three books have already come to pass and unfortunately the spell I'm using to send these books to the past can only go back thirty years, otherwise who knows where the books would end up (perhaps even in the time of the school founders!)_

If the spell could only send the books back thirty years, then that meant that his future self was forty-three years old. Wow, he was old… Shaking his head to clear it of the unnecessary thoughts, he concentrated on the letter again.

_I know that you probably won't be happy about what I'm about to tell you next, but it really is for the best. I know you don't like people knowing about your life and thoughts, but in these circumstances it can't be avoided. Imagine if by reading about you and your thoughts you could save some people that you couldn't otherwise._

Wait! Did that mean that people he knew were dead in the future? Not Ron! Not Hermione! Not Sirius – he only just got to know him! He quickly read ahead.

_Yes, some of the people you know and care about will die in the future. That is why I sent you these books – so that you can prevent their deaths and finish off old Voldyshorts that much quicker and finally live a normal life without being afraid of when he'll return and kill you or your friends._

If he could protect his friends by reading these books, then he would do so without complaint.

_I thought so. Now, I'd like you to gather a group of people and go to the seventh floor. There's a painting of a wizard trying to teach trolls to dance ballet. Weird, I know. Then you have to walk past the opposite wall three times and think about a place that you could read the books in and the Room of Requirement – that's the place that will appear after you do what I told you to do – will take care of the rest. Don't worry about missing the end of the year – time will stop in the room and when you exit it will be as if you never went in there. Also, don't worry about the food – the house elves will take care of it._

_Now to that group of people I want you to gather. I know that you don't like some of them, but they are there for a reason and I ask you that you trust that I do have a reason for making you read the books together with them. The people you should gather are: Albus Dumbledore, Ronald Weasley, Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape and Neville Longbottom._

_That's all I can think of to write at the moment, so I'll stop this letter and hope that there won't be any bloodshed._

_Just kidding._

_Harry James Potter_

When Harry read over the names he grimaced when he read Snape's name, but smiled when he read the names of his godfather and his Defence against the Dark Arts professor. He would see Sirius and professor Lupin again! He recognized all but two of the names on the list. He wondered who Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody where, but decided to let that rest for now, for he was on a mission now.

The first person Harry went to find was professor Dumbledore – he would probably know how to contact the two people that Harry didn't know and professor Lupin and Sirius as well!

When he arrived at the gargoyle that was protecting the Headmaster's office, he realized that he didn't know the password. He sighed quietly and was just about to start rattling off as many sweets as he could remember when a sharp voice from behind him startled him.

"What are you doing out of your dormitory at this time of the night, Potter?"

Of course, the person who had to catch him out after curfew had to be Snape. Quickly hiding his scowl, Harry turned around and looked at his professor as calmly as possible.

"I need to speak to the Headmaster about something and it couldn't wait until the morning. Could you please tell me the password to his office, sir?" he asked politely. Snape sneered at him and, not that he expected anything different from his Potions professor, said,

"Do you really think yourself so important that you can speak to the Headmaster whenever you want to, Potter? Ten points from Gryffindor for being out after curfew and if you don't-"

"What seems to be the problem here, gentlemen," an elderly voice interrupted professor Snape's rant. Harry sighed in relief and grinned gratefully at his Headmaster. Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled a bit, while Snape looked like he sucked a particularly sour lemon.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir," started Harry, "I just received a package of books from the future."

He ignored Snape's sputter and continued, "They were sent here by my future self, or so the letter says, and he requests that I read it together with you, professor Snape and a few others – although I don't know some of them."

Dumbledore stroked his long beard with his left hand as he looked at Harry. Harry hoped the professor would believe him, unlike professor Snape who was now muttering that he, Harry, should be checked in St Mungo's – though he didn't know what that was.

"Who are you supposed to read the books with?" professor Dumbledore finally asked and Harry almost sighed in relief. Pulling out the letter from his robe pocket he unfolded it and checked the names over again.

"I am supposed to gather you, professor Snape, professor McGonagall, professor Lupin, Sirius Black, Ron, Neville and Hermione, Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody, sir."

Snape's eyebrows rose and so did professor Dumbledore's. Their expressions changed into thoughtful ones. Harry guessed that they finally started to believe him. He unfolded the letter again and said,

"You can read the letter if you don't believe me, professor."

"No, no, Harry," said professor Dumbledore. "I believe you. Do you want me to contact the others?"

Harry looked up to Dumbledore with a hopeful expression.

"Would you, sir? I don't know how to contact them and I don't even know who two of them are. I'll tell Ron, Neville and Hermione."

Professor Dumbledore smiled at him and nodded – so Harry took that Dumbledore agreed to his wish.

"Oh yeah," Harry remembered, "the letter says to meet on the seventh floor where a painting with a wizard trying to teach trolls how to dance ballet. There is supposed to be a room that will be big enough for us to read in and the letter also mentioned that time will stand still in the room so that we don't have to worry about the outside world while we read the books."

"All right, Harry – I'll contact the others. And you should go to bed – it won't do to be half asleep when we start reading."

"Yes, sir," grinned Harry and ran off to the Gryffindor common room.


	2. I The Boy Who Lived

**Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to JK Rowling I own nothing. Writing in bold comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

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**Hoping For A Better Future**

**BOOK ONE**

_I – The Boy Who Lived_

The next morning Harry woke up early, quite eager to read the books about his future. Last night when he returned to the Gryffindor common room, he found Ron and Hermione waiting for him. Ron was already half-asleep over a Quidditch book, while Hermione was earnestly reading her copy of **Hogwarts, a History** again. He felt touched that they waited up for him and told them about the letter from his future-self. Both of them were quite eager to start reading the books themselves.

For a change, Harry didn't have to wait long for Ron to wake up and after rousing Neville as well and telling him about the books, they went down to the common room, where Hermione was already waiting for them to go the seventh floor together. When they arrived, a number of people were already waiting for them.

"Professor Lupin," Harry exclaimed happily as he saw his favourite teacher standing next to professor Dumbledore, a black dog sitting at his heals. He quickened his steps and grinned up at his professor.

"Hello, Harry," Lupin replied with a small smile on his lips. "I didn't think we'd see each other quite that soon," he said. Harry grinned again and went to say hello to his godfather, who was still in his animagus form. In reply, he got slobbered all over as Sirius decided to lick his face.

"Eww, Padfoot, you're being gross!" Harry exclaimed while trying to get the dog to desist in trying to get him as slobbery as possible.

Finally, the last person arrived. It was professor Snape and he was scowling (nothing new there). "Well, what are you waiting for? I am a busy man, you know," said professor sneered when he came to a stop.

"Oh, be quiet, Snape," replied a man with an electric blue eye. That must have been Alastor Moody.

"Wotcher, professor!" said a grinning girl with short and spiky bubble-gum pink hair. And that had to be Nymphadora Tonks.

After Snape was done glaring at the two, Harry went to pace three times in front of an empty wall while thinking on what his future-self told him to. After his third pacing, a door appeared in the middle of the wall and when he opened it, there was a small common room with beige walls and chocolate brown sofas and armchairs for them to sit on. There were six doors around the circular room, which Harry knew were two dormitories for them to sleep in, two bathrooms, a dining room and a room with several destroyable things for people that needed to vent. Harry thought that was a brilliant idea on his part, for he knew that Sirius and/or professor Lupin would need it once they heard about Harry's life at the Dursleys. He could only hope that the writer of the book won't go into details about it.

Everyone trickled into the room and sat down with approving noises. Sirius changed back into his human form to the shock of everyone and it took another fifteen minutes to explain to everyone not already knowing about his innocence. Then Sirius and Lupin sat down on one of the sofas with Harry in the middle. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Tonks (as she glared at anyone who called her by her first name) sat down on another while the others sat down on the armchairs.

Harry pulled the first book out of its package and said,

"I'll start reading, if everyone's all right with it."

When no rejections came, he opened the book to the first chapter and started reading.

**Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone**

**Chapter One – The Boy Who Lived**

**Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.**

**Mr Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.**

Harry and Ron caught each other's eyes and turned away from each other to keep themselves from laughing.

**The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters. Mrs Potter was Mrs Dursley's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Mrs Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister, because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish as it was possible to be.**

"James wasn't a good-for-nothing," Sirius suddenly shouted with a scowl on his face. "He was an Auror, and a damn good one at that."

"Really?" Harry asked him. He didn't know much about his parents and this was the first time that anyone told him that his father had a job.

"You didn't know?" Sirius asked him, surprised.

"No, all I really know about my dad is that I look like him, but have my mother's eyes. And that he played Quidditch when he was in school," Harry admitted with his head down. He could hear Sirius grind his teeth.

"Don't worry, Bambi, Remus and I will tell you everything you want to know about your mum and dad," Sirius said firmly. Harry raised his head with a funny expression on his face.

"What?" asked Sirius, not comprehending why Harry looked at him like that.

"Bambi?" asked Harry, his lips twitching. Sirius blushed a bit and waved his hand, "It was our nickname for you. I wanted to call you Prongs Jr or Prongslet, but Lily was against it. She said that she didn't want you to grow up just like James. We settled for Bambi. You don't like it?"

"No, no, I like it," said Harry hurriedly, ignoring Hermione's giggling (it seemed that she and Harry were the only ones that knew where the name Bambi came from… no, that was incorrect, Tonks seemed to have a chuckling fit as well). He didn't like the distraught expression on Sirius' face when he thought that Harry didn't like this nickname.

"Could we get back to reading?" ground Snape out. Harry quickly started reading again, not eager to incur his professor's wrath.

**The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived in the street. The Dursleys knew that the Potters had a small son, too, but they had never even seen him. This boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"A child like what?" growled Sirius. Nobody answered him. They still weren't really comfortable in the ex-convict's presence.

**When Mr and Mrs Dursley woke up on the dull, grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country. Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work and Mrs Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his high chair.**

**None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window.**

**At half past eight, Mr Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls. "Little tyke,"**

Harry suddenly felt the need to let out a guffaw. "Little?" he managed to get out when he calmed down a little. "I don't think 'little' is a word I'd use to describe Dudley."

**chortled Mr Dursley as he left the house. He got into his car and backed out of number four's drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar – a cat reading a map.**

"Bet that's McGonagall," Sirius said with a mischievous grin that dimmed his haunted eyes for a moment.

"Why would you think that it's me, Black?" asked professor McGonagall.

"Well, I don't know," Sirius floundered, "I just have this feeling."

"A galleon it isn't professor McGonagall," Tonks suddenly announced.

Everyone stared at her for a moment and she said, "I like to bet," as an excuse.

"You said your last name is Tonks?" asked Sirius after a moment.

"Yes, what's it to you?"

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Ted Tonks, would you?" asked Sirius.

"He's my dad."

Sirius suddenly let out a bark-like laugh and said,

"I knew I heard your name before. But I couldn't remember where for the life of me. You're Andy's daughter, right? I heard that Andromeda married a Muggle-born called Tonks. I just remembered that they had a daughter."

"How do you know my mother?" asked Tonks suspiciously. Sirius's face fell for a bit, then he cheered back up again.

"She's my favourite cousin, of course. She was the only one of my family that I liked."

"If we could get back to the reading," Snape once again interrupted them.

**For a second, Mr Dursley didn't realise what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet Drive, but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.**

"Prepare to lose your galleon," Sirius teased.

"As if," sniffled Tonks in reply.

**As Mr Dursley drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said _Privet Drive_ – no, _looking_ at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Mr Dursley gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks. Mr Dursley couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes – the get-ups you saw on young people!**

"Yes, how dare they," Sirius mocked. Everyone turned to Sirius when he said that.

"What?" he once again asked.

"You talk too much," Tonks decided to help him out.

"Well, I didn't really get a chance to talk in Azkaban, did I?" Sirius replied with a scowl.

No one had an answer to that.

**He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdoes standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Mr Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Mr Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – these people were obviously collecting for something … yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on, and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived in the Grunnings car park, his mind back on drills.**

"One-tracked mind, that one," McGonagall murmured.

"You have no idea," said Harry before he could realize just to whom he was replying and blushed when everyone either sniggered or twinkled or chuckled at him. Well, everyone but Snape and Moody. Snape scowled, and Moody just stayed… moody.

**Mr Dursley always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open-mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead. Most of them had never seen an owl even at night-time. Mr Dursley, however, had a perfectly normal, owl-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunch-time, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the baker's opposite.**

**He'd forgotten all about the people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

**"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard –"**

**"– yes, their son, Harry –"**

"This must be November the first," Lupin said sadly. Everyone looked sad at that.

**Mr Dursley stopped dead.**

"YES!" Sirius once again interrupted the reading. Harry felt like he didn't know his godfather at all. And he realized that it was true, after all – he only got to talk to his godfather for a few minutes after everything calmed down. Long enough for Sirius to ask him if he wanted to live with him, and to say goodbye.

"Mr Black," said Hermione, already in her lecturing mode, "That's just a saying. He's not really dead."

"Oh," said a disappointed Sirius.

Then he cheered up again and told Hermione to call him Sirius or Padfoot and Harry was allowed to read again.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.**

"Coward."

One guess who said that.

**He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone and had almost finished dialling his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache, thinking … no, he was being stupid.**

"Nothing new here," Harry murmured.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his nephew was called Harry.**

"Does he know your name by now?" Hermione asked in an angry voice.

"You know what, Hermione, I don't really know," admitted Harry. And it was true. He couldn't remember his Uncle ever calling him by his name. It was always boy or freak.

**He'd never even seen the boy. It might have been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs Dursley, she always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if he'd had a sister like that …**

"You do, and she's a pain in the arse," scowled Harry.

"Language, Harry," came a reprimand from Hermione.

"Well, it's true!" pouted Harry.

**but all the same, those people in cloaks …**

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon, and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

**"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Mr Dursley realised that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passers-by stare: "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"**

"Sounds like Dedalus Diggle," murmured McGonagall.

"He never had much sense," she explained when everyone turned to stare at her.

**And the old man hugged Mr Dursley around the middle and walked off.**

**Mr Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle, whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.**

**As he pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"Ha, I told you it was McGonagall!" shouted a grinning Sirius. Tonks scowled at him a bit, but remained quiet. No one could say she was sore loser that way.

**"Shoo!" said Mr Dursley loudly.**

**The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look.**

"Definitely McGonagall," Sirius said.

"And if you won't shut up, I'll curse your mouth off," said Tonks in reply.

**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr Dursley wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learnt a new word ('Shan't!'). Mr Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living-room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight, there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The news reader allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted,"**

"Haha, I didn't expect to read about my dad in this book," said a chuckling Tonks.

"Your dad's a Muggle reporter?" asked Hermione curiously.

"Yep, at least a part-time one," replied Tonks.

**said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early – it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over Britain? Owls flying by daylight? Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters …**

**Mrs Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good. He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er – Petunia, dear – you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he had expected, Mrs Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?"**

**"Funny stuff on the news," Mr Dursley mumbled. "Owls … shooting stars … and ****there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today …"**

**"So?" snapped Mrs Dursley.**

**"Well, I just thought … maybe … it was something to do with … you know … _her lot_."**

"Her lot?" asked McGonagall angrily.

**Mrs Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name "Potter". He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son – he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"**

**"I suppose so," said Mrs Dursley stiffly.**

**"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"**

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"Why that,…" Sirius started ranting, but found himself speechless.

"How can you say that Harry's a nasty name, it was the name of your father, you bi-" he suddenly found himself silenced. He glared at Lupin who twirled his wand.

"Language, Sirius," he drawled with his hoarse voice.

"Wow, I've never seen Sirius be silenced like that," Tonks added her two Knuts into the discussion. All the while Harry was quiet. He never knew that he got his name from his grandfather. Another thing that his relatives lied to him about, he realized grimly.

**"Oh, yes," said Mr Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."**

**He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something.**

**Was he imagining things?**

"I thought he didn't approve of imagination," murmured Sirius.

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters? If it did … if it got out that they were related to a pair of – well, he didn't think he could bear it.**

"That should be my line," mumbled Harry grimly. Snape took a quick glance at the boy. With every paragraph they read, the image he had of a spoiled prince was shattering away. Even before they started reading about Harry living with the Dursleys, when they read about how Mr Dursley acted towards witches and wizards, Snape remembered how his father acted towards him and how Petunia started hating her own sister.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs Dursley fell asleep quickly but Mr Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind. His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that even if the Potters were involved, there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs Dursley. The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and their kind … He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect them …**

**How very wrong he was.**

**Mr Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.**

**A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground. The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.**

**Nothing like this man had ever been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"Dumbledore!" yelled Sirius.

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

"Told you so," grinned Sirius again.

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

**He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket. It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter. He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop. He clicked it again – the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,**

"Actually, it's called a Deluminator," Dumbledore made his presence known.

**until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him. If anyone looked out of their window now, even beady-eyed Mrs Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer back inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat. He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it.**

"Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."

"Ha, pay up!" Sirius laughed, while a grumbling Tonks handed over one of her galleons.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

The room was filled with chuckling.

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating? I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."**

**Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating, all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful, but no – even the Muggles have noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls … shooting stars … Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent – I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle. He never had much sense."**

Everyone laughed again, remembering McGonagall's previous statement.

**"You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

Everyone sobered at that.

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes, swapping rumours."**

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on: "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"**

**"A what?"**

**"A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemons. "As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone –"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like yourself can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense – for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: _Voldemort_."**

**Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was unsticking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice. "It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who'. I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the only one You-Know – oh, all right, _Voldemort_ – was frightened of."**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

**"Only because you're too – well – _noble_ to use them."**

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Too much information," groaned Ron and promptly blushed as everyone turned to look at him.

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared? About what finally stopped him?"**

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now. It was plain that whatever "everyone" was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters. The rumour is that Lily and James Potter are – are – that they're – _dead_."**

Harry read the last paragraph so quietly that the others had to strain their ears to hear him. Sirius bowed his head and pulled a quiet Harry into a one-hand hug. Harry rested his head on Sirius' shoulder and closed his eyes. Lupin looked at the two, but didn't move from his place next to Harry.

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James … I can't believe it … I didn't want to believe it … Oh, Albus …"**

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know … I know …" he said heavily.**

"It's nice to hear that you cared about them so much," Remus said quietly, and Sirius nodded – apparently unable to speak at the moment. McGonagall's eyes shone as she sniffed, and Dumbledore's eyes were missing its usual twinkle.

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potters' son, Harry. But – he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy. No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke – and that's why he's gone."**

**Dumbledore nodded glumly.**

**"It's – it's _true_?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done … all the people he's killed … he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding … of all the things to stop him … but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

**"We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

Harry remembered the end of his first year and how professor Dumbledore told him he was too young to know and made a thoughtful face. It seemed that professor Dumbledore did know, or at least suspected, how he survived and why Voldemort tried to kill him.

He didn't bring it to his attention though. He'd probably only get told the same thing.

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took a golden watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me _why_ you're here, of all places?"**

"He never could keep a secret," Sirius said fondly. "Remember that time we got him drunk, Remus?"

Lupin shot Sirius a look that distinctly said 'shut up now, before it's too late' and Sirius gulped and looked around the room, obviously trying not to meet anyone's eye. Harry snorted, but kept on reading. They would have enough time to talk once the reading was done.

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle. They're the only family he has left now."**

**"You don't mean – you _can't_ mean the people who live _here_?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore – you can't. I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son – I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. Harry Potter come and live here!"**

Harry was surprised to read how much McGonagall protested and could only wish that Dumbledore listened to her.

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

**"A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall.**

**"Really, Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? These people will never understand him! He'll be famous – a legend – I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in future – there will be books written about Harry – every child in our world will know his name!"**

This time it was Moody that snorted.

Everyone turned to stare at him in surprise. It was the first time that he made a noise since they arrived. He looked at the book that Harry was reading pointedly and all at once, it clicked.

It was Harry that started laughing first, then Ron and Hermione followed. Soon after, almost everyone was laughing hysterically (probably because of what they just read about James and Lily) – though Snape was looking particularly sour.

"At least they didn't make a Harry Potter Day," Harry snorted.

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, "Yes – yes, you're right, of course. But how is the boy getting here, Dumbledore?" She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.**

**"Hagrid's bringing him."**

**"You think it – _wise_ – to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Sirius firmly. Harry snorted again and when Sirius looked at him curiously, read ahead.

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"And here I thought that you gave up on wanting to be like professor Dumbledore, after that fiasco at Halloween."

Lupin shook his head and said that in a voice that Harry hadn't heard before. It was a mocking voice. He was surprised, because his professor was always very serious – no pun intended – and although he smiled at his students often, his eyes never did. It was the first time for Harry to see a mischievous look in them.

Sirius blushed at the memory, but glared mockingly at Remus.

"I haven't given up yet, Moony – just you watch, I'll learn how to twinkle with my eyes soon enough!"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in response and everyone started laughing again.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to – what was that?"**

**A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky – and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

"My motorbike!" exclaimed Sirius.

**If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide. He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild – long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast, muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets.**

**"Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorbike?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it me. I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir – house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we was flyin' over Bristol."**

"Aww," cooed Tonks with a mischievous look on her face. Harry ignored her, and read on – though he was blushing.

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

**"Is that where –?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar for ever."**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

"Too much information," murmured Sirius as he covered his ears. Everyone rolled their eyes at him and Ron said, with a cheeky voice, "Hey, don't copy me!" This sent everyone into hysterics.

**Well – give him here, Hagrid – we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I – could I say goodbye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid.**

**He bent his great, shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss. Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"Hey, I resent that remark," Sirius cried out with a pout on his face.

**"Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall. "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry" sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it – Lily an' James dead – an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles –"**

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep,**

There was silence in the room. You could hear a pin drop. Dumbledore suddenly started to look a little uncomfortable as everyone turned their incredulous eyes on him.

"You left him on a doorstep..." started Sirius slowly.

"In November..." took Lupin over.

"And my dad just said that it would be a wet night," Tonks added her two Knuts in.

"Are you nuts?" yelled Sirius with an angry look on his face.

"First you only write them a letter, telling them that Lily just died and that Petunia had to take care of her wizard son from now on, whether she liked it or not, and then you just leave him on their doorstep like he was yesterday's milk?" shouted Hermione suddenly. She looked a bit shocked at her outburst, especially since she's never shouted at a professor before.

Dumbledore squirmed in his seat a bit. Harry decided that it was time to continue reading and ignoring the looks on his friends' faces, continued to do just that. He did feel a little warm in his heart that so many people took offence over what Dumbledore did, though.

**took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out.**

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. "I'd best get this bike away. G'night, Professor McGonagall – Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the motorbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply.**

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street. He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four.**

**"Good luck, Harry" he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.**

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley … He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter – the boy who lived!"**

"That's the end of the chapter," said Harry quietly. It was quiet in the room for a few minutes, then Tonks extended her hand and said,

"I'll read next."

Harry handed her the book, and found himself squeezed to Sirius' side. He was a little surprised at this act of affection, since he wasn't used to being hugged, but let it go and smiled a bit as he rested his head on Sirius's shoulder.


	3. II The Vanishing Glass

******Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to JK Rowling I own nothing. Writing in bold comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**Hoping For a Better Future**

**BOOK ONE**

_II – The Vanishing Glass_

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living-room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball**

"You have such a way with words," Sirius commented sarcastically, while Harry gave a sheepish grin.

**wearing different-coloured bobble hats – but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.**

There was another pause in the reading while the people in the room turned their glares on one, at the moment very uncomfortable, Headmaster.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.**

"**Up! Get up! Now!"**

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.**

"**Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"Actually, that's a memory," teased Sirius. Harry glared at him mockingly.

"Thank you, Sirius, I had no idea," he replied in kind.

"But it _is_ amazing that you would remember such an early memory," said Hermione quietly. Harry stared at her for a moment, then around the room. Almost everyone looked quite impressed with him. He blushed and ducked his head, making Snape raise his eyebrows. He had expected the boy to become arrogant under such praise, but the boy had – once again – crushed those expectations. The more they read, the more he found himself wondering just who the boy was. Because, obviously he wasn't the carbon copy of his father, like he thought he was. It was quite a bitter potion to swallow, but Snape was good at swallowing bitter potions – literally or not.

**His aunt was back outside the door.**

"**Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"**Nearly," said Harry.**

"**Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

**Harry groaned.**

"**What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.**

"**Nothing, nothing …"**

**Dudley's birthday – how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider**

Ron shuddered and both Hermione and Harry couldn't stop the bout of chuckles that attacked them at that performance.

**off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

"Could you read that part again?" Sirius asked slowly. "I think I didn't hear that correctly."

Tonks repeated what she read, without any teasing remarks.

**Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.**

Harry was staring at his hands which were squeezing his school trousers, red-faced with shame. He never wanted them to find out about his cupboard, but knew that it would come up sometime.

There was a poisonous silence in the room as everyone tried to calm down before they murdered the Headmaster. Dumbledore himself was sitting in his armchair and looked quite gloomy at the book in Tonks' hands. He knew that the boy wasn't happy with his family, but he didn't expect them to treat him quite so bad.

Severus on the other hand was experiencing a paradigm shift. Everything that he thought of the boy – being a spoiled prince, being arrogant like his father – everything slipped away at the sentence that was just read. He did the only thing that he could think of at the moment – he put his elbows on his knees and leaned his head on his palms with a deep sigh. Harry (when did he become Harry and not Potter, anyway?) was more like him than Snape thought possible. While his father did not stick him into a cupboard, he did have to live in a small attic room where it was cold most of the time. He wouldn't be surprised if in the books to come there would be some mention of physical abuse as well.

However, it was the mental abuse that Harry had to suffer from for all these years. It was no wonder he had so little self-preservation and such a big hero complex. And yes, now that he thought about it – the boy never stood up for himself when Draco had a go at him, but he always stood up for his friends. Snape realized that Harry probably never had friends before coming to Hogwarts. It was a bitter realization that Snape's own childhood was better than Harry's in him having a friend, his Lily.

While this monologue was going on in his head, the others were shouting at the Headmaster.

"Could we please continue reading the book?" Harry finally said with a quiet voice – that was heard nonetheless.

"We'll talk about this later, you old fool," Sirius said to the Headmaster before Tonks continued reading.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

"Why would he want a racing bike?" asked Sirius in confusion. Everyone turned to stare at him.

"What?" he asked them when they didn't say anything.

"We just had no idea that you knew what a racing bike is," explained Tonks with a grin.

"I'll have you know I took Muggle Studies when I was in school," replied Sirius indignantly.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise – unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favourite punch-bag was Harry, but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"Sorry, Bambi, that's all your father's genes - he was a scrawny little git when he was eleven too," said Sirius with a small smile on his face. Harry smiled back at him. It was nice to hear more about his father than the fact that he looked just like him.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair and bright-green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. The only thing Harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning.**

"You actually _liked_ your scar?" said Ron in shock. Everyone who knew Harry knew that he hated his scar with a passion.

Harry shrugged, feeling a little uncomfortable with everyone staring at him. Again.

"I didn't know what the scar represented then. I had no reason to hate it."

**He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had got it.**

"**In the car crash when your parents died," she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

"They told you your parents died in a car crash?" asked a dangerously calm Remus. Harry looked a bit weary as he turned his head to look at his favourite professor.

"They didn't want me to know about magic," he explained, hoping to calm the professor down. "And they probably couldn't come up with a better explanation."

"What I don't get is why you're defending them," Sirius ground out with a glare. "Theylocked you in a boot cupboard and treated you like you were trash."

Harry once again went red with shame and embarrassment and looked down at his fingers.

Sirius immediately looked contrite and pulled Harry into a one-armed hug.

"I'm sorry, Harry," he whispered. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable – but we _will_ talk about it... later."

Sirius' eyes held promise and Harry knew he wasn't going to get out of this one. He nodded, still a bit embarrassed. He did feel quite warm though – no one has ever treated him like this before – it felt nice.

**Don't ask questions – that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.**

**Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting.**

"Not gonna work," Ron singsonged, trying to lift the mood in the room. Harry and Hermione snorted and the faces of the adults in the room cleared up a bit.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way – all over the place.**

"Just like your dad," Sirius grinned and tussled Harry's hair.

**Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes and ****thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

"Again, such a way with words," Sirius commented with a roll of his eyes.

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.**

"**Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"Do they really get him so much presents for his birthday," asked Hermione, appalled.

Harry nodded quietly, looking at her warily. When Hermione got mad, he was always scared – although it seemed as if Ron thrived on getting her mad. He almost snorted at that thought.

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

"**All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"**

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly,**

"**So I'll have thirty … thirty …"**

"Merlin, he can't even count!" exclaimed Tonks. Harry grimaced at her, then blushed when he caught professor Lupin staring at him from the corner of his eye.

"Did he make you write his homework for him?" asked Lupin with a peculiar expression on his face. Harry flushed again and nodded, staring at his trousers again. Then, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere, he quipped, "But I quite liked Maths, so it was no problem."

This time it was Hermione who was looking at him with a peculiar expression.

"Then why didn't you sign up for Arithmancy classes? They're similar to Math," she asked.

Harry shrugged. He wasn't about to tell her what he really thought, after all. They would be angry with him if he did. He was confused by the expression on Snape's face when he turned his black eyes to look at him. It was like he was trying to figure him out. Like he was a Potions experiment. Snape's lips quirked a bit, before his eyes turned away.

Now, that was confusing.

"**Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"**Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled.**

"**Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.**

"No, that just means that he's a spoiled brat," said Sirius into the silent room. Harry rolled his eyes. Sirius seemed to comment on almost everything they read – but Harry wasn't angry with him – it was nice to see Sirius become livelier with every comment he made. His eyes still held the dark shadows that Azkaban left, but his face was becoming more and more animated.

**At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote-control aeroplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone, looking both angry and worried.**

"**Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.**

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she'd ever owned.**

"**Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr Paws and Tufty again.**

"Harry, how could you..." Ron mocked and everyone let out a chuckle. Harry rolled his eyes at his best friend and ignored him.

"**We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

"**Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."**

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there – or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

"**What about what's-her-name, your friend – Yvonne?"**

"**On holiday in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"**You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer).**

"I don't think that's gonna work, Bambi," Sirius said with a mocking grin.

"I know that," Harry replied. "I can always hope."

"Yeah, hope is good," replied Sirius.

Harry rolled his eyes again.

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"She always looks like that though," Harry felt the need to explain.

"**And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.**

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"**I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "… and leave him in the car …"**

"**That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone …"**

Sirius got angry at that.

"He's treating you like a dog!" he exclaimed.

"You would know," Remus quipped. Harry snorted into his hand. He had no idea his Defence Against the Dark Arts professor could be so funny.

"Hey!" complained Sirius, but everyone ignored him as Tonks continued to read, not letting him get another complaint in.

**Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying, it had been years since he'd really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"**Dinky Duddydums,**

"Dinky Duddydums?" said Ron with a funny expression on his face. "She calls him Dinky Duddydums? She's even worse than mum!"

"Yeah, at least she doesn't call you Won Won," Harry teased back.

"Eww, Harry... just eww!" Ron retorted with a grimace.

**don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

"**I … don't … want … him … t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

**Just then, the doorbell rang – "Oh, Good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically – and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

"**I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's, "I'm warning you now, boy – any funny business, anything at all – and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"**I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.**

**The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"That's just your accidental magic, Harry," Sirius teased again, then groaned when Harry drove his elbow in his ribs to shut him up.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left "to hide that horrible scar". Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and Sellotaped glasses. Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"Hmm, that could be a latent Metamorphmagus ability," Tonks mused when she read the paragraph.

"What's a Metamorphmagus?" Harry asked curiously.

"A Metamorphmagus is a witch or a wizard that can change their appearance at will," Hermione explained.

"That's correct, Hermione," Tonks praised the girl. "I'm a Metamorphmagus myself."

She proved it by changing her bubble-gum pink hair to an exact replica of Harry's hairdo.

"Wicked!" was Ron's only comment as he watched her with an impressed expression.

"We'll talk about it later," Tonks promised when she caught the impatience on Moody's face.

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

**On the other hand, he'd got into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"You apparated?" Lupin asked with wide eyes. Harry looked at his face then at the face of the others. Everyone was looking at him with wide eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, becoming worried.

"Nothing is wrong really," Sirius explained slowly. "It's just that you're more powerful than I thought."

"Even I couldn't apparate when I was your age," Dumbledore added quietly. "Even accidentally."

Everything grew quiet again, each trying to come to terms with how powerful of a wizard Harry really was.

"But then, why do you suck at magic so much," Ron asked the most pertinent question. Hermione couldn't agree more.

Harry remained quiet. He didn't want everyone to know...

"It's because of the expectations that everyone's putting on him, combined with how the Dursleys treated him," Snape said quietly, trying not to look like he swallowed an extremely sour lemon. It was another thing that he had to swallow – he thought that Harry was stupid. Another thing he was wrong about. The boy was probably more intelligent than anyone gave him credit for. If he was able to hold his power back so much to barely scrape by in his classes, then how powerful was he really?

That thought gave him a scare.

Sirius started to glare at him, but stopped when he realized that he was probably telling the truth. He turned, instead, to Harry and watched as he tried to grow as small as possible.

"Harry-" he tried to say, but Harry interrupted him. He knew that they would nag him until he caved, so he caved earlier.

"It's because everyone's expecting this Golden Boy that defeated Voldemort. The only thing he's good for is for defeating the Dark. They don't expect anything else from me. And if I try to be something else, they condemn me – like in second year when they thought I was the heir of Slytherin. Everyone turned on me like I was the next Dark Lord or something..." the words rushed out of Harry.

Everyone was quiet. Dumbledore looked a bit guilty – Snape thought that what Harry was feeling probably came to bite the Headmaster in the arse – for he was as much to blame for the boy feeling like that as everyone in this room.

"And if I did as well as I know I could, then Ron and Hermione would be angry with me," Harry kept going. It was all out of the bag now anyway.

"Why would you think that?" Hermione asked stupefied.

"Oh, come on!" Harry raised his voice. "You were put out by me outperforming you in the Defence Against the Dark Arts exam not two weeks ago. You don't expect me to believe that if I did better than you in other subjects that you wouldn't be even more put out!"

Hermione was quiet.

"And Ron would feel left out – why do you think I signed up for the same classes he did! I didn't want to create an even bigger rift between us than it already is! You know how put out he is by me having all this fame and money!" Harry continued to rant, not caring if he hurt his friends or not. He couldn't stop the words gushing out of his mouth any more.

"As if I need any of that! He's already struggling with seeing me as Harry and not as Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived! And no one else sees me as just Harry! They all expect me to be something – and I provide!"

"I don't see you as Harry Potter," said Neville quietly. It was the first time he said something and Harry realized that he forgot he was in the room. He immediately felt guilty about that. What kind of a friend was he?

"Neither do I," said Remus. Sirius just hugged the small boy to his side and whispered, "You're my godson, I don't care about anything else!"

Harry tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but to no avail. Instead he turned his head and hid his face in Sirius' chest as he did his best not to cry. Sirius gently patted his back and just held him closer.

Everyone was quiet, letting the boy calm down. Hermione and Ron had a sour pill to swallow themselves, because everything Harry said was true to an extent.

When Harry was calm, he turned around and quickly glanced at everyone in the room. Hermione was crying silently, Ron was watching her gloomily, Neville was watching him, Remus and Sirius were in a quiet conversation between themselves, Dumbledore had his head in his hands, while McGonagall was trying to comfort him; Moody was expressionless as always, but he did have a strange look in his eye as he gazed at the wall, while his other eye was firmly on his face; Snape was also looking at Harry with an indescribable expression.

Tonks cleared her throat and continued reading after making sure that Harry was okay. Harry knew that everyone would talk to him about it once the books were finished. He sighed, resigned.

**The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard or Mrs Figg's cabbage-smelling living-room.**

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry were just a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorbikes.**

"I guess he likes to complain about you a lot," Sirius tried to joke, but fell silent when everyone glared at him.

"… **roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorbike overtook them.**

"**I had a dream about a motorbike," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beetroot with a moustache, "MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!"**

**Dudley and Piers sniggered.**

"**I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon – they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice lolly. It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by ****lunch-time, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him. They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory wasn't big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

**Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

**After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a dustbin – but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.**

**Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.**

"**Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"**Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

"**This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself – no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up – at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.**

**It winked.**

Sirius started to say something, but Remus shook his head – motioning for Sirius to take a look at Harry's face. Sirius did so and was shocked to see the miserable look on his godson's face. Instead of saying something, he hugged his godson to himself again, trying to comfort him.

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:**

"**I get that all the time."**

"**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

"**Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it.**

**Boa Constrictor, Brazil.**

"**Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see – so you've never been to Brazil?"**

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump.**

"**DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

**Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.**

"**Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened – one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.**

"Wow, Harry," said Tonks smiling. "Another amazing feat of magic!"

Harry looked at her cautiously, trying to discern if she meant it, but could see no deceit.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out on to the floor – people throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come … Thanksss, amigo."**

The only ones in the room that were surprised by the revelation that Harry was a parselmouth were Moody and Tonks – Remus and Sirius already knew (or at least they suspected from what Harry was yelling a few minutes ago). Sirius quickly kissed Harry on his forehead and grinned at him when Harry looked up at him in surprise.

"What? You expect me to be all shocked and angry and go saying 'Merlin, you're a parselmouth'? Well, if so – you're going to be disappointed. I think it's cool!" he said stubbornly. Harry just shook his head in disbelief. Looking around the room, he saw that no one looked like they were disgusted. Everyone looked at him with understanding on their faces. Well, not Snape. He only looked like he always did. But Harry somehow knew that he understood him too.

Suddenly he realized that Snape knew exactly how Harry felt. He was discriminated against as well and Harry was guilty of doing the same to him as he didn't want people doing to him. It was a hard pill to swallow, but Harry was nothing but good at swallowing hard pills.

"I'm sorry," he whispered as he looked at Snape with an apologetic expression.

Snape did nothing but blink. In fact, behind the mask, Severus was nothing but shocked at the apology he received. He did not expect that. But then again, Harry did nothing but what was expected of him – and he was expected to hate him, not counting that Snape wanted Harry to hate him so that he could hate him too. That of course, fizzled out of his brain as soon as he thought it.

It shocked him.

He didn't hate Potter any more. He couldn't. Not after what he learned about him in the short span of time that they spent reading the books.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"**But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong sweet tea while he apologised over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death. But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go – cupboard – stay – no meals," before he collapsed into a chair and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food.**

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.**

Everyone paled again. Harry could remember the night his parents were killed? Sirius swallowed and pulled Harry even closer.

**This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; the Dursleys were his only family. Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old woman dressed all in green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**


	4. III The Letters From No One

**********Disclaimer:** Everything belongs to JK Rowling I own nothing. Writing in bold comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**III – The Letters from No One**

There was silence in the room for a few minutes, which was broken by Ron's ever-empty stomach's rumbling. Harry and Hermione couldn't help but look at each other and snort loudly.

"I think it's time for breakfast," Harry said lightly, trying to diffuse the tension that was still lingering in the room. He was surprised when a huge coffee table appeared between the armchairs and sofas. It appeared that the room heard his need and gave him what was needed. There was a soft pop and plates upon plates of food appeared out of no where. There was a small note, resting upon Harry's empty plate, that was waiting to be filled with all the delicious food.

_Apparently, food is one of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration – according to Hermione anyway. And as such, food cannot be conjured. I felt the need to send a note to one of the Hogwarts house-elves (don't tell Hermione or she'll get her knickers in a twist!) to supply you with food. Don't worry about it from now on and enjoy your stay,_

_Harry_

He felt extremely weird wanting to thank himself, so he stopped thinking about it and dove into the food that had appeared on his plate while he was reading the note. He looked over to Sirius with suspicion and rolled his eyes when he saw Sirius staring at his plate with a pointed look. Harry snorted and continued eating.

After they were done – or at least, after everyone but Ron was done, Hermione took up the book and started reading the next chapter.

**Chapter Three – The Letters from No One**

"Doesn't that mean that you'll get the letter from Hogwarts?" Ron asked his mouth half full.

"You'll see," said Harry mysteriously, but ruined it by snorting to himself as he remembered his uncle's escapades.

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment. By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started and****Dudley had already broken his new cine-camera, crashed his remote-control aeroplane and, first time on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

Sirius was about to say something, but the look on his godson's face stopped him. He swore to himself that they would have a long talk as soon as they retired for the night. Then he thought that it might be too early for him to assert himself in that way and looked over to Remus who was watching his facial expressions. Shrugging, he turned his attention back on Hermione.

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day. Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon were all big and stupid, but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader. The rest of them were all quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Harry-hunting.**

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around and thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had a place at Uncle Vernon's old school, Smeltings. Piers Polkiss was going there, too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local comprehensive. Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"No, Harry, you're going to Hogwarts," teased Ron. Harry rolled his eyes.

"I didn't know that at the time," he said.

"**They stuff people's heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practise?"**

"**No thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it – it might be sick." Then he ran, before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

"That, Mr Potter, was an answer worthy of a Slytherin," Snape suddenly said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. It was the first time that he commented on something that was being read from the book. Harry grew a bit tense at that as he was reminded that the Sorting Hat wanted to put him in Slytherin. He didn't know how everyone else would react to that.

"Thanks, I guess," he managed to get out. He was very uncomfortable as Snape stared at him. Was he expecting him to go into a rage and rant about Slytherin? If so, he would wait a long time. Ever since Harry had found out that Peter Pettigrew, the man who betrayed his parents to Voldemort, was a Gryffindor, it made him think about how everyone said that all the bad wizards came out of Slytherin. That made him realize just how prejudiced the Wizarding community was. He even snuck into the library one night and went to research Dark Wizards through the history – and while some of them were Slytherins, most of the others were either Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs of Gryffindors. It was true that victors wrote the history books, as Harry found out. Voldemort might be one bad Slytherin, but not everyone who was bad was a Slytherin. Being a Slytherin didn't automatically make you bad – that was the wisdom that Harry learnt that one night in the library. It made him open his eyes to what happened before he was sorted. Hagrid told him that all Slytherins were evil, as did Ron – and Malfoy didn't exactly endear himself to Harry either. But then again, he was only eleven and knew nothing of the Wizarding world. He wondered what would have happened if he kept quiet while he was sorted. Would the Sorting Hat still put him in Gryffindor or Slytherin, or would he have been put in another house? The Hat did say that he had the qualities of all four houses, after all. Hermione clearing her throat, made Harry wake from his musings and start paying attention to the reading.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs Figg's. Mrs Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one of her cats and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before. She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"That was nice of her," Ron said sarcastically.

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living-room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hats called boaters. They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

"Makes you thank whoever designed the Hogwarts uniform, doesn't it?" said Hermione with a grin. Everyone laughed at that and agreed. They wouldn't be caught dead wearing what Dudley had to wear for his school.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life. Aunt Petunia burst into tears**

"Drama queen," muttered Harry. Snape couldn't agree more.

**and said she couldn't believe it was her Ickle Dudleykins,**

Silence. Then the room shook with laughter.

Silence. Then the room shook with laughter.

"Ickle Dudleykins?" guffawed Ron.

"Hark who's talking – didn't I hear your brothers call you Ickle Ronniekins on the platform?" shot Harry back through his own chuckles. Ron ignored him, but everyone could see his ears turn red from embarrassment.

**he looked so handsome and grown-up. Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh.**

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen next morning when Harry went in for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink. He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water.**

"**What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

"**Your new school uniform," she said.**

**Harry looked in the bowl again.**

"**Oh," he said. "I didn't realise it had to be so wet."**

"I think that sarcasm won't work on her either," Sirius mused as he tried to distract himself from going over to Privet Drive and committing the murders he was convicted of.

"You're telling me," Harry mumbled.

"**Don't be stupid," snapped Aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you. It'll look just like everyone else's when I've finished."**

Everyone turned to glare at Dumbledore again. He received a glare every time Harry's abuse was mentioned. Harry wondered how long that would last. He hoped they wouldn't glare at the professor through all the books. Though, he did resent Dumbledore a bit for always sending him back to the hell-hole, he hoped that the man had a good reason to and hoped that one of those books would tell him. Trying to make Dumbledore tell you the truth about something was usually like pulling teeth.

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and****tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High – like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform. Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smeltings stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

**They heard the click of the letter-box and flop of letters on the doormat.**

"If the post is mentioned, then…" Hermione started to get excited and quickly continued to read. Harry kept quiet, not wanting to disappoint her by telling her that it didn't matter because he didn't read the first letter anyway.

"**Get the post, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"**Make Harry get it."**

"**Get the post, Harry."**

"So, he does know your name," Ron said and was immediately whacked over the head by Hermione's hand.

"You're so tactless, Ron!" she grumbled as Ron wearily rubbed the spot on his head that was hurting.

"I just made an observation!" he argued, "How is that tactless?"

Hermione opened her mouth to tell him exactly how that observation was tactless, but Harry interrupted them before they started arguing again. The teachers in the room just rolled their eyes at the show the trio was putting on. They were already used to watch Hermione and Ron argue all the time, with Harry calming them down. To Remus, Sirius and even Snape, it reminded them of Lily and James, before they got together. It left a bitter-sweet taste in Remus' and Sirius' mouths, but a sour one in Snape's.

"**Make Dudley get it."**

"**Poke him with your Smeltings stick, Dudley."**

**Harry dodged the Smeltings stick and went to get the post. Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge, who was holidaying on the Isle of Wight, a brown envelope that looked like a bill and – a letter for Harry.**

Sirius perked up at this and leaned forward. He had seen all of Harry's firsts when he was a baby. He could still remember how angry James was at him when Harry's first word was Da – and it was not James that was called that, but Sirius. His behind still ached in the memory of the Stinging Hex James used on him as he chased him around the house. Sirius was also present at Harry's first steps – he could still remember Lily and how she glowed with pride as she took pictures of baby Harry waddling around. He sighed at the memories sadly. He missed twelve years of his godson's life because he was chucked into Azkaban. How could he ever make it up to him?

**Harry picked it up and stared at it, his heart twanging like a giant elastic band. No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him. Who would? He had no friends, no other relatives – he didn't belong to the library so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

_**Mr H. Potter**_

_**The Cupboard under the Stairs**_

_**4 Privet Drive**_

_**Little Whinging**_

_**Surrey**_

"Albus, I think it's time we started supervising the Quill," said professor McGonagall with the most serious face Harry had ever seen. Dumbledore's eyes went dull as he nodded. He wondered how many children at Hogwarts had endured as much as Harry has if not more and they never found out. He felt a slight pang of guilt as he thought of his Potions Master – he was also an abused child.

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.**

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion,**

"GRYFFINDOR!" yelled Sirius with a mischievous grin on his face.

**an eagle,**

There was a moment of silence, and then Moody grunted. They all took it as a confirmation to Moody being a Ravenclaw when he was at Hogwarts.

**a badger**

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Tonks added her two Knuts to the conversation.

**and a snake**

Everyone turned to Snape who glared at them. Hermione quickly resumed reading.

**surrounding a large letter "H".**

This time, it was Remus, Sirius, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tonks, Neville and even Dumbledore who let out a bellow, "HOGWARTS!"

They all looked at each other and started laughing. Harry couldn't believe how childish everyone behaved and started laughing even harder. Even Dumbledore was chuckling to himself as he watched his favourite group of people laugh. Snape's face was expressionless and Moody was becoming impatient.

"**Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter-bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"That was a joke?" Ron asked with disbelief in his voice.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

"Harry," said Remus cautiously. "I don't think that was a good idea."

"Why not?" asked Ron, clueless as usual.

"Probably because you're right," said Harry miserably while wishing that he would have opened the letter when he found it. But then again, he would have missed Hagrid giving Dudley a pig's tail. That cheered him up.

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust and flipped over the postcard.**

"**Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk …"**

"**Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter, which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"Hey, that's his letter!" shouted Tonks angrily. "It's illegal to take and read someone else's letters!"

"**That's mine!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back.**

"Uh-oh," snickered Ron. "I sense someone losing their temper soon!"

Hermione rolled her eyes and continued reading.

"**Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon,**

"Actually…" started Neville, getting a bit red in the face. "I wrote you a letter once when I was six."

Ron let out a snicker as he added his two Knuts, "So did Ginny!"

Harry just groaned in embarrassment and hid his face in his hands, trying to hide his blush. Everyone gave out a small chuckle.

**shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it. His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights. And it didn't stop there. Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge.**

"Nice description," mumbled Sirius as he tried to keep his own temper in check.

"**P-P-Petunia!" he gasped.**

**Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it, but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach. Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint. She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

"**Vernon! Oh my goodness – Vernon!"**

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smeltings stick.**

"If we did that to dad, mum would kill us," Ron whispered.

"**I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"**I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's mine."**

"Wait for it," Ron added to the sentence with a wicked glean in his eyes. Harry rolled his eyes and Sirius chuckled.

"**Get out, both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

**Harry didn't move.**

"Any second now," said Neville with a grin.

"**I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"And there it is! Harry's temper!" said Ron gleefully.

"Reminds me of Lily's," mused Remus as he remembered how often she lost her temper whenever James was trying to show off. Sirius chuckled and Snape's lips twitched a bit as he remembered how many times she lost her temper as well.

"What kind of a temper did my dad have?" asked Harry curiously. He wanted to know everything he could find out about his parents. Sirius and Remus looked at each other and grinned.

"He was a happy-go-lucky person, I guess," said Remus after a few moments. "He couldn't bother getting too angry about something, though when he did lose it, then you had to watch out."

Sirius slumped a bit as he remembered how James yelled at him after he almost got Snape killed by Remus. He could see how idiotic and childish that was now. Especially as it seemed that Snape brought the hatred he felt towards them onto Harry. Though, the further they got into the book the less he seemed to hate Harry, Sirius thought. He could remember how Snape looked on the first train ride – he wore clothes that were too big for him and that were threadbare. He could almost imagine Harry looking like that in his cousin's clothes. He felt his heart squeeze in pain as he realized just how many things Snape and his godson had in common.

"**Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.**

"**OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall, slamming the kitchen door behind them. Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole; Dudley won, so Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between door and floor.**

"**Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address – how could they possibly know where he sleeps? You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"**Watching – spying – might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"**But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want –"**

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny black shoes pacing up and down the kitchen.**

"**No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer … yes, that's best … we won't do anything …"**

"**But –"**

"**I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out that dangerous nonsense?"**

The room suddenly started trembling as if an earthquake had hit it. Everyone looked around themselves, not understanding what was happening... until they lay their eyes on the Headmaster who was clutching a hand to his chest and trying to calm himself down. Everyone's mouth dropped open as they stared. Never, in all their lives, had they seen the Headmaster loose control of his magic before and it was a bit scary as power poured out of him.

It took a few minutes, but the Headmaster calmed himself down eventually.

"I apologize," he said wearily as he took quick breaths. Snape, Moody and McGonagall all looked worried about their friend and the others merely looked dumbstruck. After a few more seconds of silence, Hermione shakily started to read again.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

"**Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door. "Who's writing to me?"**

"**No one. It was addressed to you by mistake,"**

"Yes," said Snape sarcastically, "by mistake his exact address was written on the envelope."

**said Uncle Vernon shortly. "I have burned it."**

"**It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily. "It had my cupboard on it."**

"**SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

"**Er – yes, Harry – about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking … you're really getting a bit big for it … we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

"Second bedroom?" barked Sirius angrily. "Just how many rooms are there in the house?"

Harry kept quiet.

"**Why?" said Harry.**

"**Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors**

Sirius growled lowly at that and promised himself that after they were done reading for today he would sit Harry down and have a long talk with him, ignoring his previous insecurities about asserting himself too quickly. Someone had to talk to the boy and that someone would be Sirius. Looking at Remus, he saw his friend looking at him proudly. Guess Remus knew what he was thinking about. As usual. Taking a deep breath, Sirius calmed himself down and listened as Hermione read further.

**(usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge), one where Dudley slept and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into his first bedroom. It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard to this room. He sat down on the bed and stared around him. Nearly everything in here was broken. The month-old cine-camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over next door's dog; in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite programme had been cancelled; there was a large birdcage which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air-rifle, which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it. Other shelves were full of books. They were the only things in the room that looked as though they'd never been touched.**

"I read them when I was locked in the room," Harry admitted blushingly. He thought back to the summer between his first and second year and when his uncle had locked him in the room. He had nothing to do but read. Hermione looked at him proudly while Ron had a look of disbelief on his face.

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother: "I don't want him in there … I need that room … make him get out …"**

"Spoiled brat," murmured Tonks.

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smeltings stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof and he still didn't have his room back. Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the post arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it. They heard him banging things with his Smeltings stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! Mr H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive –"**

"If he wanted to read the letter yesterday, why didn't he just read it and not shout it out for everyone to hear?" asked Ron.

"I did mention he was stupid, didn't I?" said Harry lightly. Tonks snorted at that.

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.**

"So, you were already practising the choke for the troll," observed Ron with a laugh.

"Troll?" asked Sirius and Remus sharply. They didn't know anything about a troll.

"I'm sure we'll read about it once I get to Hogwarts," Harry tried to calm them down.

"I'm curious about it too," admitted Neville softly. "I always wanted to know how you and Ron became friends with Hermione."

"You weren't friends off the bat?" asked Sirius curiously.

"No," answered Ron guiltily. He still felt guilty about being the one to make Hermione cry.

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smeltings stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand.**

"**Go to your cupboard – I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry.**

"**Dudley – go – just go."**

**Harry walked round and round his new room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again?**

**And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"Uh-oh," Ron, Hermione and even Neville said simultaneously. Harry just rolled his eyes.

"What's with the uh-oh?" asked Remus while sending a curious glance towards Harry.

"Harry had a plan," explained Ron while chuckling. "Because no matter how good of a plan he makes is, there's always bound to go something wrong."

"Now, when he's thinking on his feet, he's brilliant," continued Hermione. "But when he makes a plan, then it goes awry. And he usually jinxes himself as well."

Harry crossed his arms.

"Like when he went to the Zoo, remember him thinking that nothing could go wrong? That was when he jinxed himself." added Neville. Hermione let out a giggle, while everyone laughed at the poor, blushing Harry.

"Don't worry," said Sirius. "Your dad sucked at making plans too. Usually, his plans were the ones that got us caught and issued with detentions. It was Remus here that made the best plans."

Remus shot him an irritated look, while McGonagall looked like someone betrayed her.

**The repaired alarm clock**

"How did you repair it? I don't think the Dursleys would have lent you any tools..." Hermione observed. Harry scratched his head and thought back.

"I think it might have been a bit of accidental magic," he admitted. "I remember getting frustrated and banging the clock at the wall and then it suddenly started working again."

Dumbledore thought it wouldn't be prudent of him to mention that it wasn't accidental magic, but most probably wandless magic that Harry did.

**rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first. His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall towards the front door –**

"**AAAAARRRGH!"**

"Don't tell me," smirked Tonks.

**Harry leapt into the air – he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat – something alive!**

"Oh Merlin, this is just too funny," Ron laughed and Harry couldn't help but join in. Now that he looked at it, it really was funny.

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realised that the big squashy something had been his uncle's face. Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do. He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen, and by the time he got back, the post had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

"**I want –" he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the letter-box.**

"That won't help," said McGonagall smugly.

"Just how many letters did you get?" asked Neville in awe.

"Hundreds," said Harry shortly. Then grinned as he remembered how he met Hagrid for the first time.

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't deliver them they'll just give up."**

"**I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

"**Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon, trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruit cake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"Yes, our minds work in strange ways," sneered Snape sarcastically. Harry snorted. He had no idea that Snape could be so funny.

**On Friday, no fewer than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the letter-box they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs toilet.**

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed "Tiptoe through the Tulips" as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

"He's getting paranoid," said Moody.

"Hark who's talking," teased Tonks, ignoring the glare that Moody sent her.

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living-room window. While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food mixer.**

"**Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

"Everyone in the Wizarding world," Ron teased. Harry shot him a glare and humphed.

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill, but happy.**

"**No post on Sundays," he reminded them happily as he spread marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today –"**

"You're forgetting that the Wizarding world operates on a different scale than yours," smirked Tonks.

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one –**

"Why didn't you just pick one from the floor?" asked Hermione surprised.

"Seeker training," retorted Harry. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You didn't even know what Quidditch was," she said with a smirk.

"So? I didn't even know that I would be choking a Troll when I choked my uncle," Harry said grinning wickedly. Hermione didn't have anything else to add to that.

"**Out! OUT!"**

**Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

Everyone glared at the book at that.

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

"**That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time. "I want you all back here in five minutes, ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

**He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue. Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors and were in the car, speeding towards the motorway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, video and computer in his sports bag.**

**They drove. And they drove. Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turning and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

"**Shake 'em off … shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day. By nightfall Dudley was howling. He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programmes he'd wanted to see and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Welcome to Harry's life," snapped Hermione angrily.

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the window-sill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering …**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast next day. They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

"'**Scuse me, but is one of you Mr H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

_**Mr H. Potter**_

_**Room 17**_

_**Railview Hotel**_

_**Cokeworth**_

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared.**

"**I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following her from the dining-room.**

"**Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car and off they went again. The same thing happened in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a suspension bridge and at the top of a multi-storey car park.**

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon. Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car and disappeared.**

"And he just now noticed?" asked Ron. Harry shook his head, but didn't deign to answer.

**It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.**

"**It's Monday," he told his mother. "The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television."**

**Monday. This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday – and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week, because of television – then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" yelled Ron, Hermione, Neville, Sirius, Remus, Tonks and Dumbledore. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling with amusement, but when Hermione read further, they dimmed again.

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun – last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat-hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks. Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

"You were actually thinking an optimistic thought?" observed Ron shocked. Harry rolled his eyes.

"I can be optimistic sometimes," he replied.

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling. He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

"**Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"**

**It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out to sea. Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine. One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"**Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowing boat bobbing in the iron-grey water below them.**

"**I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces. After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house.**

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls and the fireplace was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a packet of crisps each and four bananas. He tried to start a fire but the empty crisp packets just smoked and shrivelled up.**

"**Could do with some of those letters now, eh?" he said cheerfully.**

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver post. Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa. She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

Sirius and surprisingly Remus growled, while Snape scowled at the book.

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight. The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time. He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all, wondering where the letter-writer was now.**

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside. He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in, although he might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that? And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise? Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds … twenty … ten – nine – maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him – three – two – one –**

**BOOM.**

Everyone jumped, because Hermione yelled the word out. Ron was looking at her admiringly, while McGonagall was clutching her chest from shock.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"Who is it?" asked Sirius worriedly.

"That's the end of the chapter," said Hermione with a mischievous grin. She already knew, of course, so could afford to tease him a bit.

"Then give me the book so that I can read," Sirius grumbled and took the offered book.


	5. IV The Keeper of the Keys

**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**IV – The Keeper of the Keys**

**BOOM. They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

"**Where's the cannon?" he said stupidly.**

"Well, he is stupid," Harry commented lightly.

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands – now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

"That- That man-" McGonagall was at a loss for words. The same seemed to be said for the whole room.

"He brought a gun? There were children in the room!" Tonks ranted. "Oh, when I get my hands on him..." Harry could hear her mutter to herself.

"**Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you – I'm armed!"**

**There was a pause. Then –**

**SMASH!**

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.**

**A giant of a man**

"Actually, he's only a half-giant," Tonks supplied them with. Harry wasn't that surprised, although he never knew that there were actual giants. That made him feel ashamed of himself. He was in the Wizarding world for how long already and he still didn't know much about it. Silently, and to himself, he made a promise to learn as much as he could about the world he was living in. He never wanted to feel like an outsider.

**was standing in the doorway. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.**

"Makes you worried about your own descriptions, doesn't it?" commented Remus and everyone chuckled, although a bit uncomfortably. They all wondered how Harry would describe them. Hearing about how his imagination worked made them all a bit worried. Well, at least Remus, McGonagall, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Sirius were worried – seeing as Harry has not yet met either Moody or Tonks.

**The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

"**Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey …"**

"Only Hagrid," said Harry with a grin. Everyone agreed, knowing Hagrid.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

"**Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

"Go, Hagrid!" Ron cheered.

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother, who was crouching, terrified, behind Uncle Vernon.**

"That must have been an interesting sight," Sirius commented dryly.

"**An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

"**Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yer dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."**

"The first time I heard that," Harry whispered sadly. Everyone glared at the Headmaster yet again.

"Actually," Sirius said thoughtfully as he stared at Harry's face. "You look more like your mum."

Everyone stared at Sirius in surprise. Then they turned to stare at Harry. Harry was intrigued. Everyone was telling him how much he looked like his dad and that he only got his mother's eyes.

"Your cheekbones and nose are all Lily's," Sirius said, while tweaking Harry's nose with a smile.

"Your chin is also like your mum's," Remus said as he watched Harry's and Sirius' interactions.

"You also inherited your mother's temper," added McGonagall to everyone's amusement.

"And your mother's huge heart," said Dumbledore quietly.

"And her open-mindedness," contributed Moody who had known Lily from the Order.

Harry was overwhelmed by this. Sirius seeing that continued to read.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

"**I demand that****you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"Breaking is the keyword," Tonks joked, referring to the fact that the half-giant had broken the door down in order to get in the hut. Everyone (well, except for Snape and Moody) grinned at that.

"**Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant. He reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber, and threw it into a corner of the room.**

"One of my better memories of that day," said Harry thinking of Hagrid fondly.

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

Hermione couldn't stop herself from giving out a small giggle as she imagined the big man squeaking like a mouse.

"**Anyway – Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here – I mighta sat on it at some point, but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with**_**Happy Birthday Harry**_**written on it in green icing.**

"What's with the green colour, anyway?" Ron said, tactlessly as usual. "I mean, first with the ink on the letter, then with the birthday cake."

"It's professor McGonagall's favourite colour – that's why she's writing the letters with it; and my eyes are green, so Hagrid made green icing for the cake. Also, green is my favourite colour as well," Harry explained, matter-of-factly. Ron just stared at him.

"How did you know what my favourite colour is, Mr Potter?" asked a perplexed McGonagall. Harry blushed a bit and then explained his observations quietly,

"Well, you're almost always wearing the green tartan robe, and you circle the transfiguration spells on the blackboard with green chalk, and you wear a green brooch sometimes, and you mostly use green ink on our essays when you correct them..."

Everyone was once again struck dumb at Harry's observation skill. Minerva McGonagall had to admit that she was profoundly touched by how many things Harry had noticed and remembered. Sirius, seeing that Harry was getting more and more embarrassed as he watched McGonagall go a bit teary-eyed, quickly continued with the reading.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth, and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

"Manners, Mr Potter," Minerva chided him sternly. Harry blushed.

**The giant chuckled.**

"**True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

"That actually hurt a bit," Harry chuckled softly as he remembered Hagrid almost dislocating his shoulder while doing that.

"**What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

"Hagrid, you are not supposed to drink in front of children," McGonagall said exasperatedly. Harry just smiled and shared a look with Hermione and Ron, remembering what Hagrid did to become sober. Hermione caught on and giggled softly while Ron looked clueless.

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled crisp packets in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire there.**

"Did Hagrid just use magic?" asked Tonks confused. "Wasn't his wand snapped when he was expelled?"

Harry didn't say anything, preferring to read about it later instead of trying to explain it now.

**It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warmth wash over****him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy package of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs and a bottle of some amber liquid which he took a swig from before starting to make tea.**

"Just how many pockets does Hagrid's coat have?" said Ron sarcastically.

"Enough to hold a lot of things in," Harry said matter-of-factly. Neville couldn't help but snort at that comment.

"Shut up, Harry," Ron said, rolling his eyes. Harry mimicked zipping his lips and throwing away the zipper, his eyes sparkling with laughter.

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage. Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker, Dudley fidgeted a little. Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

**The giant chuckled darkly.**

"**Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' any more, Dursley, don' worry."**

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant. Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."**

"That's better," McGonagall murmured appreciatively. Harry had to hold back a smart comment and rolled his eyes instead. Luckily, McGonagall did not notice that. Instead, Snape noticed it and had to hold back a snort. _Cheeky little brat_, he thought to himself fondly, surprising himself.

**The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

"**Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. an' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts – yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course."**

"No, because his relatives never told him," Ron said.

"Way to state the obvious," Neville murmured with a grin. Hermione giggled again and said, "Well, Ron is Mr Obvious sometimes. Though, that's a good thing."

"How so?" asked Sirius curiously.

"Well, sometimes I overthink things," Hermione started to explain but was immediately interrupted by three simultaneous snorts.

"Okay, okay, I always overthink things," she glared at her fellow Gryffindors. Remus grinned as he remembered that he used to do the same thing. He could see, from the corner of his eyes, Sirius grinning at him in a way that told him they were thinking of the same thing.

"If I may continue," Hermione said bossily at the three boys who were still chuckling at her. All three of them made a show of becoming quiet and obedient. Sirius could almost imagine three tails wagging behind them.

"While I overthink things, and Harry goes by his instinct, we sometimes overlook obvious things. That's where Ron comes in with his pureblood upbringing and stating the obvious thing in such a manner that we could hit ourselves for not noticing it before," Hermione explained.

"That's what makes us such a great team," Harry added. "Hermione's our main researcher, Ron's the strategist, and I figure things out with the information they give me."

The professors started at that. Harry's and Hermione's explanations made a lot of sense.

"**Er – no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked.**

"**Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"What are you apologizing for? It's them that should be sorry!" Sirius barked in irritation.

"I was used to apologizing for every little thing that went wrong in the Dursley residence," said Harry calmly while holding back laughter at what Sirius said, even though it was a serious matter. Sirius couldn't understand why Harry's lips were twitching and giving up, read on.

"_**Sorry?"**_ **barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry!**

He immediately knew just why his godson's lips were twitching and had to endure the entire room laughing at him… again…

"So, now you want to be like Hagrid?" said Harry wickedly.

"You're evil," Sirius pouted.

"But you love me anyway," Harry said without thinking. When he realized what he said, he went beat red in mortification. The whole room seemed to shake with the sound of Sirius' laughing.

"Sure do, pup," Sirius said while messing up Harry's hair.

**I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?"**

"**All what?" asked Harry.**

"**ALL WHAT?" Hagrid thundered. "Now wait jus' one second!"**

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

"**Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy – this boy! – knows nothin' abou' – about ANYTHING?"**

"Uh-oh, Harry won't like that," Hermione mumbled and grinned cheekily when Harry glared at her mockingly.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far. He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

"**I know**_**some**_**things," he said. "I can, you know, do maths and stuff."**

"And stuff," Ron repeated, snickering loudly.

"That doesn't tell us much," Hermione teased. Harry ignored her.

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About**_**our**_**world, I mean.**_**Your**_**world.**_**My**_**world.**_**Yer parents' world**_**."**

"**What world?"**

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

"**DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like "Mimblewimble". Hagrid stared wildly at Harry.**

"**But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're**_**famous. You're**_**famous."**

"**What? My – my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"And the only thing you got out of that was that your parents were famous and not that you were famous too?" asked Remus for clarification. Harry's blush told him everything.

"**Yeh don' know … yeh don' know …"****Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.**

"**Yeh don' know what yeh**_**are**_**?" he said finally.**

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

"**Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

"**You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him? I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! an' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

"**Kept**_**what**_**from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

"**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror.**

"Drama queen," muttered both Snape and Harry, then stared at each other in surprise. Sirius moaned at that and shook his head, as if he was disappointed. Remus was shaking with quiet laughter at the look on Snape's face.

"**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid.****"Harry – yer a wizard."**

**There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.**

"**I'm a**_**what?**_**" gasped Harry.**

"Nice reaction," Ron guffawed around the laughter and snickering that filled the room. Even Snape was smirking, Harry noticed embarrassedly.

"**A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin'****good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? an' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to**_**Mr H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea.**_**He pulled out the letter and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**_

_**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)**_

_**Dear Mr Potter,**_

_**We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**_

_**Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.**_

_**Yours sincerely,  
Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress**_

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"That's the first question you asked?" Hermione said in disbelief, remembering her own questions.

"It was the last thing I read," Harry tried to defend himself.

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled an owl – a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl – a long quill and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note which Harry could read upside-down:**

"You can read Hagrid's writing upside down?" said McGonagall impressed.

"Er," said Harry eloquently while Sirius and Remus grinned at him. It wasn't easy to impress Minerva McGonagall.

_**Dear Mr Dumbledore,**_

_**Given Harry his letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.**_

_**Hagrid**_

"Nice," commented Tonks.

"Short and to the point," Remus said grinning over at the female Auror. Tonks blushed at the smile and looked everywhere else but at Remus. Remus frowned at that a little, but Sirius almost broke two of his ribs while trying not to laugh at his clueless friend.

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door and threw the owl out into the storm. Then he came back and sat down as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.**

"Ron still calls it a fellytone," Harry commented with a straight face.

"Oi, my dad calls it that!" Ron defended himself not realizing just what a pickle he put himself in.

"I think I remember your dad asking me about escalators during the summer before my second year," mused Harry. And Ron being Ron dug his hole deeper.

"You mean escapators?"

Before Harry could tease him further, Sirius decided to put Ron out of his misery and continued reading, ignoring the mocking glare that Harry sent his way.

**Harry realised his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

"**Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

"**He's not going," he said.**

**Hagrid grunted.**

"**I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

"**A what?" said Harry, interested.**

"**A Muggle," said Hagrid. "It's what we call non-magic folk like them. an' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"And the pun was totally intended," Harry confessed to the room. "Hagrid told me so later."

"**We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard, indeed!"**

Another small earthquake went through the room, but no one stared at the Headmaster this time, though Snape and Harry did give him two identical worried looks.

"**You**_**knew**_**?" said Harry. "You**_**knew**_**I'm a – a wizard?"**

"**Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly. "**_**Knew!**_**Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?**

"Lily was not dratted," snarled a suddenly angry Sirius. Snape scowled at that, having thought the same thing as the mangy mutt, although he had no intention of saying it out loud.

**Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that – that**_**school**_**– and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn, turning teacups into rats. I was the only one who saw her for what she was – a freak! But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this****and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

"As they should be," said Hermione primly. "Having magic is a great gift."

"With great power comes great responsibility," cited Harry and sending Hermione a smile.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," she responded to him with another quote. They looked at each other for a second, and then snickered in unison, oblivious to the general confusion of the others that were gathered in the Room of Requirements. Not everyone recognized the quotes.

"I didn't know you knew that quote," Hermione said once they calmed down.

"My favourite hiding place in primary school was the library," Harry admitted abashed.

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed she had been wanting to say all this for years.**

"She probably did," grimaced Harry.

"**Then she met that Potter at school and they left and got married and had you, and of course I knew you'd be just the same, just as strange, just as – as –**_**abnormal**_**– and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you!"**

"That's how you found out?" asked a pale Dumbledore. Everyone was in shock. No one had imagined that this was how Harry found out about the truth of his parents' deaths. Sirius was trembling with rage and Remus was breathing deeply, trying to calm himself down before he lashed out.

Harry stayed quiet. Once Sirius was calmer, he continued reading.

**Harry had gone very white. As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

"**CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid, jumping up so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter? It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own storywhen every kid in our world knows his name!"**

"**But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious.**

"**I never expected this," he said, in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me****there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh – but someone's gotta – yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin'."**

"That would have been a disaster," said McGonagall seriously.

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

"**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh – mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it …"**

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with – with a person called – but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows –"**

"He'll never tell," said Tonks smugly.

"Wanna bet?" Sirius retorted, trying to get over this anger towards the Dursleys.

"One galleon says he doesn't say the name," agreed Tonks and looked around the room to see if anyone else would be interested in betting.

"A galleon on him saying the name," Sirius added his bet.

Soon a couple of galleons was sitting on the table. McGonagall (she loved betting, though she would never admit it) bet on Hagrid not saying the name, while Dumbledore (he just went along with the silliness) bet on Hagrid saying the name.

"**Who?"**

"**Well – I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"**Why not?"**

"**Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared. Blimey this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went … bad. As****bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was …"**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"**Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

"**Nah – can't spell it. All right –**_**Voldemort."**_

"Ha!" burst out Sirius and grabbed his share of the bet, while Tonks shoved the other part at Dumbledore, grumbling under her breath. Harry was amazed to notice that none of the adults flinched at the name, though he did see Snape grimacing a bit and his right hand twitching towards the left one for a second before it stilled. Snape noticed him watching him and exhaled loudly in exasperation. Couldn't he do anything without the boy noticing? He wondered how Harry would react when (not if) it came out that he was a Death Eater… and worse, that he was the one to blame for his parents' deaths. He frowned at himself, feeling guilt encompass him. It was only Black's voice that made him concentrate again.

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this –****this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too – some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches … Terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him – an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of. Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"**Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew. Head Boy an' Girl at Hogwarts in their day! Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before … probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side.**

"**Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em … maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Hallowe'en ten years ago. You was just a year old. He came ter yer house an' – an' –"**

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with a sound like a foghorn.**

Everyone was morose at the reminder of their friends' deaths. There was an unspoken of, but agreed minute of silence in the room as they paid their respects and then Sirius read ahead, his voice cracking with sadness remembering James' and Lily's bodies in the rubble of their house.

"**Sorry" he said. "But it's that sad – knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find – anyway –**

"**You-Know-Who killed 'em. an' then – an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing – he tried to kill you, too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then. But he couldn't do it.****Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh – took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even – but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry. No one ever lived after he decided ter kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age – the McKinnons, the Bones, the Prewetts**

Ron grew pale at the mention of his uncles and Harry noticed. His face was awash with realization as he realized that the Prewetts were somehow related to Ron. Ron, for once noticing his friend's look, said quietly, "They're my mum's twin brothers."

– **an' you was only a baby, an' you lived."**

**Something very painful was going on in Harry's mind. As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before – and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life – a high, cold, cruel laugh.**

The whole room shuddered at that. Snape grew cold as he listened to Harry remembering the Dark Lord's laughter. It was a terrifyingly correct description.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

"**Took yeh from the ruined house myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot …"**

"**Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon. Harry jumped, he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there.**

"So did I," murmured Tonks.

**Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

"**Now, you listen here, boy," he snarled. "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured**

Snape clenched his fists at that.

– **and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdos, no denying it, and the world's better off without them in my opinion – asked for all they got, getting mixed up with these Wizarding types – just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end –"**

"He did _not_ just say that," Remus said angrily. Harry watched him wearily as the red slowly diminished from Lupin's face as he calmed himself down.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat. Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley – I'm warning you – one more word …"**

"Go Hagrid!" Ron yelled, dispersing the rising tension in the room.

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

"**That's better," said Hagrid, breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

"You wouldn't be Harry if you hadn't had them," Hermione teased. Harry grinned modestly.

"**But what happened to Vol – sorry – I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"You actually said You-Know-Who?" Ron continued the teasing. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Not for long," he countered as he remembered Ron's reaction to the name on the train.

"**Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see … he was gettin' more an' more powerful – why'd he go?**

"**Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die. Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who was on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they could've done if he was comin' back.**

"**Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on. 'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin'****goin' on that night he hadn't counted on – I dunno what it was, no one does – but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

Everyone agreed with Hagrid. Though most of them were flabbergasted at Hagrid saying something so profound.

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake. A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon; if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard? If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

"**Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can****be a wizard."**

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled.**

"**Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you was scared, or angry?"**

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it … every odd thing that had ever made his aunt and uncle furious with him had happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry … chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach … dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back … and the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realising he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him.**

"**See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard – you****wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

"Wish I wasn't," muttered Harry darkly, while trying to hide his scar by flattening his fringe over it. Sirius watched him in sympathy.

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight.**

"He never does," muttered Harry again.

"**Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts****of rubbish – spell books and wands and –"**

"**If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest****school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his****own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbled–"**

"**I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

"He shouldn't have said that," mumbled Dumbledore, knowing what kind of a reaction Hagrid always had when someone badmouthed him in his presence.

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled it over his head. "NEVER –" he thundered, "– INSULT – ALBUS – DUMBLEDORE – IN – FRONT – OF – ME!"**

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley – there was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal and next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain. When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

The room was silent for a few moments, then Ron started snickering loudly. Most of them soon followed his example. You could even see McGonagall's lips twitch a bit.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

"**Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig, but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

Harry chuckled at that.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm – er – not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff – one o' the reasons****I was so keen ter take on the job –"**

"**Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

"**Oh, well – I was at Hogwarts meself but I – er – got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year. They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore****let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

"**Why were you expelled?"**

"He never told us that," mused Sirius while scratching his chin. Then he looked at Harry with suspicious eyes.

"Though, knowing you – you'll find out somehow," he finished. Harry pretended to be interested in his nails.

"You do know!" Remus exclaimed in disbelief. "How did you get him to tell you?" he continued to question the boy.

"You'll see," was the only thing he received as an answer and had to clench his lips to prevent himself from pouting.

"**It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly. "Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry.**

"**You can kip under that," he said. "Don' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

Sirius put the book down on the table in relief at the chapter being finished. Remus quickly swished the book away and opened it to the next chapter.


	6. V Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**V – Diagon Alley**

Everyone cheered at that. However, Sirius felt a bit depressed at the chapter's title. It should have been him that escorted Harry on his first Diagon Alley visit. Or better yet, it should have been Lily and James that took their son to buy his school supplies. He sighed sadly. Harry looked up at him in concern, but Sirius just pulled him a bit closer to him.

**Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.**

"**It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

"You are so pessimistic sometimes," Hermione complained.

_So would you be if you grew up like I have,_ Harry thought to himself, but did not express his thoughts aloud.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

"**And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door," Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still didn't open his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

"Yeah, only it wasn't a dream," Ron said with a grin.

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

"**All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him. The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.**

**Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him. He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid, who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered on to the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

"**Don't do that."**

"It won't listen. Newspaper owls usually peck the recipients until they pay them," Tonks said.

"And you know that how?" Sirius teased her. Tonks' hair turned a violent red colour as she glared at her cousin.

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

"**Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl –"**

"**Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

"Hagrid, you idiot," moaned McGonagall. "He doesn't know about owl post or currency yet nor does he have any on him!"

"**What?"**

"**He wants payin' fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."**

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing**_**but**_**pockets – bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, mint humbugs, tea-bags … finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

"**Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

"**Knuts?"**

"**The little bronze ones."**

**Harry counted out five little bronze coins and the owl held out its leg so he could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then it flew off through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up and stretched.**

Once again McGonagall was left speechless. "If you were going to get up anyway, why make Harry pay for it?" she wondered sarcastically. Harry tried to come up with a good excuse for his friend, but couldn't.

"I think he wanted Harry to try and figure out our currency for himself, so that he could become independent sooner," said Remus, trying to excuse their friend.

"Or he just didn't think of it," Tonks chirpily inserted.

"Or that," Remus sighed, knowing his giant friend.

"**Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something which made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

"Oh no," said Ron. "Not the happy balloon!"

"Hermione," Harry mumbled and Hermione immediately punched Ron on the arm.

"Ow! That hurt, woman!" Ron growled. This earned him another smack.

"Ow, would you stop hitting me already!" Ron yelled. The whole room was watching the two in amusement. Remus, trying to prevent another bloodbath from occurring, quickly read on.

"**Um – Hagrid?"**

"**Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

"**I haven't got any money – and you heard Uncle Vernon last night – he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."**

"**Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'yeh think yer parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

"**But if their house was destroyed –"**

"You thought we keep our money in our houses?" said Tonks with mirth in her eyes.

"Hey, all I knew about wizards was what I read in fantasy books!" Harry defended himself. "And all the stories I read said that wizards had dragons that protected their treasure hordes or hid their treasure in chests. What was I supposed to think?"

"I read about that too," Hermione stated.

"**They didn' keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank. Have a sausage, they're not bad cold – an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither."**

"**Wizards have**_**banks**_**?"**

"**Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

"**Goblins?"**

"**Yeah – so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it,**

"So, Harry," teased Neville. "When are you going to rob it then?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "I mean, with what all you've been up to and all the impossible things you did, I think you'll do it sometime in the future," Neville continued.

"A bet?" said Tonks, grinning impishly.

"You will not bet on Harry robbing or not robbing Gringotts," said Sirius, suddenly feeling protective of his godson, and drawing Harry into a one-sided embrace. Harry reddened at the gesture, but felt touched as he felt Sirius' protectiveness. Remus smiled at his friend, and read on.

**I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want ter keep safe – 'cept maybe Hogwarts. As a matter o' fact, I gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you – gettin' things from Gringotts – knows he can trust me, see.**

"**Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

**Harry followed Hagrid out on to the rock. The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

"**How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat.**

"**Flew," said Hagrid.**

"**Flew?"**

"Somehow, I still can't imagine Hagrid flying," Harry mumbled. Sirius heard it and snorted.

"He flew on a Thestral," explained Dumbledore. Harry looked confused for a moment before his expression cleared.

"Ah," was all he said. Everyone stared at him again.

"What?" he asked, starting to feel a bit awkward.

"You know what a Thestral is?" asked a baffled Hermione.

"Sure I do," said Harry, becoming a bit irritated. "It's a huge winged horse that you can only see if you've witnessed death."

The professors were impressed.

"I _do_ read my schoolbooks, you know," continued Harry sarcastically. "Plus I do seem to remember that a book called _Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them_ was on our booklist in my first year."

Hermione blushed. "Sorry," she muttered.

Ron only shook his head, acting as if someone had just died. Harry ignored him, still feeling a bit annoyed at everyone thinking he was thick. Though, he supposed, he didn't give them any reason to think he wasn't. He knew his grades were only average – but they had already found out why he kept them that way and he didn't want to think about it any further.

"**Yeah – but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh."**

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

"**Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter – er – speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

"Only Hagrid," McGonagall muttered to herself.

"**Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat and they sped off towards land.**

"**Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

"**Spells – enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there's dragons guardin' the high-security vaults. And then yeh gotta find yer way – Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin' ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the**_**Daily Prophet.**_**Harry had learnt from Uncle Vernon that people liked to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life.**

"**Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

"**There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

"**Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, but he'd never leave Hogwarts, so old Cornelius Fudge got the job. Bungler if ever there was one.**

"Too true, too true," Harry commiserated. Ron sniggered at that, although it wasn't a funny topic.

**So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin' fer advice."**

"**But what does a Ministry of Magic**_**do**_**?"**

"Well, the Minister of Magic does nothing but accept bribes from a certain blonde wizard whose name I shall not mention, and finds a scapegoat anytime he's in trouble of looking bad for the press," Harry said, getting angry at the thought of Fudge sending Hagrid to Azkaban just because 'he had to be seen doing something'.

"They also send people to Azkaban without giving them a trial," Sirius added, looking grave and dark as he remembered how they stuffed him in Azkaban before he could tell them what really happened.

"Who did that?" Moody growled suddenly, making some of the people in the room flinch as they did not expect him to say something.

"It was Crouch," Sirius said emotionlessly.

"When this reading is done, I'll make sure they give you a trial," Tonks said, and Moody nodded seriously. Sirius looked at his cousin and his old mentor, deeply touched at the efforts the two would make to give him his freedom.

"Thank you… both of you," he said with a trembling voice. Harry snuggled closer to his godfather, trying to reassure him but not knowing how to. He was happy to see that he was doing a good job of it as he saw Sirius relax and pull him closer to him. Laying his head on Sirius' shoulder, he turned his attention back to Remus who continued reading.

"**Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

"**Why?"**

"**Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin' magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbour wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper and they clambered up the stone steps on to the street.**

**Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at****perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

"Well, Hagrid isn't known for his subtlety," McGonagall sighed. Everyone in the room who knew Hagrid had to agree with her. The teenagers snickered.

"**Hagrid," said Harry, panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are**_**dragons**_**at Gringotts?"**

"**Well, so they say," said Hagrid. "Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

McGonagall's face went blank in shock.

"You mean to tell me-" she cut off. "He really got a dragon?" Her voice sounded dumbfounded. Harry couldn't look her in the eye.

"What dragon?" asked Sirius, anxious.

"You'll see," mumbled Harry into his shoulder. Remus was already starting to hate this phrase.

"**You'd**_**like**_**one?"**

"**Wanted one ever since I was a kid – here we go."**

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand "Muggle money", as he called it, gave the notes to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

"How is it hard to understand Muggle money," Hermione said exasperated. "It has clear, large numbers on the paper bills!"

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

"Way to act inconspicuous," Ron muttered. Harry, Hermione and Neville all gaped at him in surprise.

"What?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"We had no idea you knew such a big word," Harry teased him when he finally found his voice. The whole room, bar Snape (he smirked) and Moody, snorted. Ron, on the other hand, was glaring at his friends.

"I hate you," he told them.

"We love you too," Hermione informed him cheerfully with just a slight blush on her cheeks.

"**Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches.**

**Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

"**Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list there of everything yeh need."**

**Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before and read:**

_**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**_

_**Uniform**_

_**First-year students will require:**_

_**1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**_

"They're only good for putting out fires, as far as I know," Harry commented, remembering his first practical Charms lesson. Everyone who was in that classroom grinned as they remembered their classmate Seamus Finnegan, who still didn't succeed in turning water into rum and often put things on fire when he became frustrated. Luckily, his eyebrows always grew back.

_**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**_

_**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**_

_**Set Books**_

_**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**_

_**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk**_

_**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot  
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling**_

Ron sniggered. "Waffling, get it?" he explained when he received questioning gazes. Hermione rolled her eyes.

_**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch  
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore  
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger  
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander  
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble**_

_**Other Equipment**_

_**1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales**_

_**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**_

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**_

"Except if you're Harry Potter," teased Ron, while the other two Gryffindors chortled at the look on Harry's face.

"**Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

"**If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

**Harry had never been to London before. Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not used to getting there in an ordinary way. He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow.**

McGonagall didn't say anything this time, but everyone could hear her exasperated sigh.

"**I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said, as they climbed a broken-down escalator which led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

"They manage just fine," Hermione said, feeling slightly insulted. Harry had to agree with her in that. The magical world didn't have electricity that powered so many Muggle inventions – like mobile phones, televisions, computers,… the Muggles created atomic bombs which could destroy a city in a matter of minutes. Take Hiroshima and Nagasaki for example! Plus, they went into space! Harry was always fascinated by Astronomy, even though he never showed it in school. It was fascinating watching the planets and their moons. He often wondered if there was life on other planets.

"Yes, they do," he supported Hermione. "They invented so many things! Like rockets that they launch to space! They walked on the moon and made a huge telescope called Hubble that they use to take pictures of faraway galaxies that we could never see with our telescopes."

"On the moon?" yelped Ron in total disbelief.

"But, how could they breathe?" he asked.

"They made these suits that could withstand high temperatures and pressures. And they have a helmet that has UV protection so that the Sun won't harm your eyes and they have these oxygen tanks that they carry on their backs so that they can breathe," Hermione explained.

"Amazing," McGonagall breathed. Even Dumbledore was deeply impressed by what the Muggles had accomplished. While he knew that they went to space, he had no idea what else they did to explore it. He felt deeply ashamed of himself for not keeping up with the Muggle world more often and more in depth.

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him. They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger bars and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand. This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them?**

"Yep," Ron said with a grin.

**Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks?**

"Sure there are," Neville added, catching on to what Ron was doing. Harry just rolled his eyes.

**Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?**

"Didn't your uncle say that he doesn't approve of imagination in the first chapter?" Remus asked. Harry stayed quiet.

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humour, he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

"**This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it. Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.**

"That's because they can't," Tonks chuckled. Harry rolled his yes.

"I was eleven and just found out about magic!" he complained. "I'd like to see you do better."

Everyone smartly stayed silent at that, though you could see Sirius' and Remus' lips twitching as they fought their smiles. Harry noticed that and elbowed the two Marauders in the ribs. While they grumbled and licked their wounds, Harry waited for Remus to continue reading, wearing a satisfied smirk.

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut.**

"Oh Merlin," Sirius managed to say through this laughter. "A gummy walnut…" Then he descended into laughter again. Most of the room did, as a matter of fact.

"How do you come up with such things, Harry?" Remus asked as he dried his eyes, because he was laughing so much that his eyes started tearing up.

"It's a talent," Harry uttered matter-of-factly to the renewed laughter. Even Snape's lips were twitching a bit as he tried to stay quiet. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling like a 100 watt light bulb as he chuckled under his breath. Moody's fake eye was twirling around his eye socket as he stared at the boy.

**The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the barman reached for a glass, saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

"**Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

"Way to be discreet, Hagrid," said McGonagall once she managed to calm down a bit.

"**Good Lord," said the barman, peering at Harry, "is this – can this be –?"**

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.**

"And welcome the fans!" Ron said dramatically. "Ow!" was heard a second later as Hermione socked him in the arm again.

"**Bless my soul," whispered the old barman. "Harry Potter … what an honour."**

**He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed towards Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.**

"**Welcome back, Mr Potter, welcome back."**

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realising it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and, next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

"**Doris Crockford, Mr Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

"**So proud, Mr Potter, I'm just so proud."**

"**Always wanted to shake your hand – I'm all of a flutter."**

Hermione giggled. "That sounded like something from a Victorian romance novel," she explained as she received questioning looks.

"You read something other than textbooks?" said Ron and Harry simultaneously and with mock horror on their faces. Hermione didn't deign them with an answer to the amusement of the other occupants of the room.

"**Delighted, Mr Potter, just can't tell you. Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

"Oh no," McGonagall murmured.

"**I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

"**He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!"**

**Harry shook hands again and again – Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

Sirius snorted at that.

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching.**

Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's eyes narrowed at the description. They all knew just who that was. Harry was mentally kicking himself for not suspecting Quirrell sooner – he had seen him in Diagon Alley the day he tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone after all – and he never saw Snape around.

"**Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

"Not that he taught us much," Harry mumbled so quietly that even Remus, with his enhanced hearing, could hardly hear him.

"**P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."**

"Merlin, that stutter was so annoying," Ron sighed exasperatedly.

"**What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?"**

"**D-Defence Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.**

"**Must get on – lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

**Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a dustbin and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Harry.**

"**Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh – mind you, he's usually tremblin'."**

"**Is he always that nervous?"**

"**Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience … They say he met vampires in the Black Forest**

"No, not vampires," Hermione sneered.

"Why do you lot hate this poor fellow so much?" Sirius asked and was rewarded by not just glares from the trio, but even Snape, Neville, McGonagall and Remus glared at him.

"Believe me, Sirius," Harry said, harshly. "This one is definitively not a poor fellow."

**and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag – never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject – now, where's me umbrella?"**

**Vampires? Hags? Harry's head was swimming. Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the dustbin.**

"**Three up … two across …" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."**

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered – it wriggled – in the middle, a small hole appeared – it grew wider and wider – a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway on to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.**

"**Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop.**_**Cauldrons – All Sizes – Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver – Self-Stirring – Collapsible**_**said a sign hanging over them.**

"And the first thing you notice in Diagon Alley are cauldrons," Sirius shook his head, as though he was gravely disappointed in Harry. Harry blushed a bit, but stayed quiet. Snape gave him a strange, calculating look that Harry didn't know what to think of.

"**Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping. A plump woman outside an apothecary's was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they're mad …"**

"Why not just say a Galleon? Why seventeen Sickles?" asked a puzzled Hermione.

"You'd have to ask Mrs Weasley that," Harry grinned. Hermione gasped in surprise.

"That was Mrs Weasley?"

"Yeah, I recognized her when I met her at the train station later," Harry confessed.

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying**_**Eeylops Owl Emporium – Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy**_**. Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand – fastest ever –" There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon …**

"**Gringotts," said Hagrid.**

**They had reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was –**

"**Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps towards him. The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

_**Enter, stranger, but take heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay most dearly in their turn,  
So if you seek beneath our floors  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there.**_

"Who came up with the poem?" asked an ever-curious Hermione.

"I believe it was Ragnok the Pigeon-Toed," answered Dumbledore.

"The guy who wrote _Little People, Big Plans?_" queried Harry to the disbelief of the entire room.

"You read that book?" Snape said, impressed against his own will. Harry blushed under the scrutiny of so many wizards and witches.

"I was curious about the goblin race," he mumbled.

"That is an amazing feat, for someone as young as you," Dumbledore added. Even he hadn't read the book until he was way into his hundreds. And for Harry to read it when he wasn't yet fourteen… Remus was feeling very proud of Harry and decided to heck with trying to keep a safe distance from the boy and pulled him into a warm hug.

"Remus?" asked a completely bewildered Harry into his shoulder.

"Pup, don't worry," Sirius calmed him down. "Remus is just overwhelmed by the hidden meaning of you reading that book." Seeing Harry looking confused from Remus' arms, he explained, "Reading the book means that you're not as prejudiced about non-human species as other wizards. And reading it at such a young age is unheard of. People are usually afraid of what they don't understand and try to shun it – it's the same with magical creatures, such as goblins, werewolves, vampires, etc… Harry, do you understand what that means now?"

Harry shook his head.

"That you're a very special young wizard," Remus whispered in his ear, making Harry blush profoundly. Hermione was feeling a bit ashamed. She had been afraid of professor Lupin for a while when she realized what he was, and Ron did yell at him to leave him alone in the Shrieking Shack… that must have hurt the gentle werewolf very much.

Remus patted Harry's back one more time, and then put him back in-between Sirius and him. Harry took one look at Sirius' encouraging stare and snuggled closer to Remus as the werewolf continued reading the book.

"**Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

"**Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr Harry Potter's safe."**

"**You have his key, sir?"**

"**Got it here somewhere," said Hagrid and he started emptying his pockets on to the counter, scattering a handful of mouldy dog-biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers.**

"The goblin must have liked that," Neville wrinkled his nose a bit.

**The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

"**Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a tiny golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely.**

"**That seems to be in order."**

"**An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

"Hagrid, did you already forget about Lily's insatiable curiosity? You should have never said anything in front of her child," sighed McGonagall.

"You do realize you're talking to a book, don't you professor?" said Sirius cheekily, ignoring the glare that followed.

**The goblin read the letter carefully.**

"**Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook!"**

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog-biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook towards one of the doors leading off the hall.**

"**What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

Everyone who knew Lily Potter rolled their eyes at that, although Snape did it so no one noticed… except Harry of course. _Drat that boy,_ Severus thought to himself when he saw Harry looking at him with a curious expression on his face again. He smirked in his direction and was satisfied when the boy blushed and moved his stare elsewhere.

"**Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

"You should have just told him and be done with it," Tonks suggested.

"That would have been safer, indeed," McGonagall agreed.

**Griphook held the door open for them. Harry, who had expected more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downwards and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks towards them. They climbed in – Hagrid with some difficulty – and were off.**

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember, left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.**

"That you remembered even that much is a great feat," said Neville, who was notorious for being a very forgetful boy. Just this year he became infamous for forgetting the passwords to the Gryffindor Common Room.

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late – they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

"**I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Stalagmites grow from the floor and stalactites hang tight from the ceiling," Hermione informed him.

"I know that now, though I liked Hagrid's explanation better," retorted Harry with a grin.

"Hagrid actually knew the difference?" Ron said tactlessly once again.

"**Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid.**

"A great explanation," snorted Neville.

"**An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."**

**He did look very green and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

Harry grew very uncomfortable as the inside of his vault was described. He didn't want everyone to know how much money he had, especially Ron, because his best friend hated being poor.

"**All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's – it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking. How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep? And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.**

**Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

"**The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

"**One speed only," said Griphook.**

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners.**

**They went rattling over an underground ravine and Harry leant over the side to try and see what was down at the dark bottom but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

"Gryffindor recklessness," muttered Snape, making sure no one heard him.

"It was like riding a rollercoaster," Harry remembered.

"I hate rollercoasters," Hermione moaned as she remembered how sick she was the only time she got on one and felt lucky for the first time that she didn't have a vault in Gringotts.

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

"**Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

"**If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.**

"**How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

"**About once every ten years," said Griphook, with a rather nasty grin.**

"Cute," commented Tonks.

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top-security vault, Harry was sure, and he leant forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least – but at first he thought it was empty. Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but knew better than to ask.**

"**Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

"Poor Hagrid," said Hermione.

**One wild cart-ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money. He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life – more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

"**Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding towards**_**Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.**_**"Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

"**Hogwarts, dear?" she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here – another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

"Ooh," said Tonks excitedly. "Perhaps you can make a new friend!"

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face**

"Never mind," she hastily said as soon as she realized who it was. Harry snickered at her.

**was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.**

"**Hullo," said the boy, "Hogwarts too?"**

"**Yes," said Harry.**

"**My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice.**

"Can I guess who it is," asked a grinning Sirius.

"Sure you can, but the first three guesses don't count," said Harry with a quirk of his lips from where he was sitting, still snuggled into Remus' embrace. Sirius just rolled his eyes and ruffled Harry's hair.

"**Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

"**Have**_**you**_**got your own broom?" the boy went on.**

"**No," said Harry.**

"**Play Quidditch at all?"**

"**No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

"**I do – Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

"Gryffindor," said Ron teasingly. Harry on the other hand, once again became nervous. What would they say when they heard what the Sorting Hat had to say? This time, Snape noticed his nervousness and quirked an eyebrow at it.

"**No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

"**Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff," huffed Tonks.

"**Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.**

"**I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding towards the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice-creams to show he couldn't come in.**

"My second ice-cream," Harry said, and immediately regretted it when he saw the looks of sorrow and anger on his friends' faces.

"**That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

"**Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

"Hagrid is not a servant," Hermione said, insulted on Hagrid's behalf.

"**He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.**

"Same here mate," Ron said fervently.

"**Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage – lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

"**I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

"**Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

"**They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

"**Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were**_**our**_**kind, weren't they?"**

"That inconsiderable, prejudiced git," Hermione mumbled into Ron's hand that he had clamped in front of her lips as soon as she started her rant.

"Didn't you call him a foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach not too long ago," Harry asked her 'innocently'. Her eyes widened and she grinned as she remembered the punch to the nose she gave him. Even Snape had to smirk at that.

"Yeah, Hermione," Ron agreed. "That was brilliant… scary… but brilliant."

"Thank you, Ron," Hermione said, with a satisfied voice.

"**They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

"Nice comeback, mate," Neville commented.

"**I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?"**

**But before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

"I wouldn't be sorry either," Tonks said.

"**Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

**Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice-cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).**

"**What's up?" said Hagrid.**

"**Nothing," Harry lied.**

"You're such a bad liar, Harry," Hermione teased.

"I'm getting better every year!" Harry challenged her with a grin. Hermione just sighed and remained quiet.

**They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

"**Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know – not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

"**Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's.**

"– **and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in –"**

"**Yer not**_**from**_**a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh**_**were**_**– he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk – you saw 'em in the Leaky Cauldron. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles – look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"**

"**So what is Quidditch?"**

"**It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like – like football in the Muggle world – everyone follows Quidditch – played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls – sorta hard ter explain the rules."**

"No, it's not," Ron said scandalized.

"**And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

"**School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but –"**

"Hagrid," scolded McGonagall.

"**I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.**

"**Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

Snape glared at the book. Just because one Slytherin went bad didn't mean every Slytherin was evil. But the Dark Lord left the stigma on the Slytherin house and Snape could do nothing to repair its reputation. He hated it.

"**Vol– sorry – You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

"**Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these. Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from**_**Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more)**_**by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

"**I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

"Good on you, mate," Ron said with a big grin. "He deserves it, the fat git."

Harry just smiled at him.

"**I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

"I wouldn't bet on it Hagrid," Remus said thoughtfully. "We all saw that Harry has powerful magic at his command. I wouldn't be surprised if he did manage to master the spells."

Harry blushed and ducked his head at the compliment, much to Remus' amusement.

"And he still can't take a compliment," he added and received a small nudge in his ribs for his efforts.

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ('It says pewter on yer list'), but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the apothecary's, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell,**

Harry was once again rewarded with a peculiar look from Snape. It was as though he was a potions ingredient that Snape was trying to figure out. It made him feel quite uncomfortable.

**a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor, jars of herbs, dried roots and bright powders lined the walls, bundles of feathers, strings of fangs and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).**

**Outside the apothecary's, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.**

"**Just yer wand left – oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

Harry smiled at the reminder of his faithful owl Hedwig. He missed her something fearsome and was sad that he wouldn't be able to see her until the books were over with. To his surprise, a window appeared on one of the walls and through it, his white feathery companion flew in.

"Hedwig," he exclaimed happily as the snowy owl descended on his knee and snuggled close to her master. Everyone in the room watched the two of them with happiness in their eyes as they witnessed the love between Harry and his pet.

**Harry felt himself go red.**

"**You don't have to –"**

"**I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at – an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer post an' everythin'."**

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage which held a beautiful snowy owl,**

Hedwig perked her head up and fluffed her wings proudly. Everyone smiled at the proud owl.

"How did you find her?" asked a curious Hermione.

"Actually, it was her that found me," said a proud Harry as he scratched Hedwig's favourite place. "The moment I stepped into the shop she flew down from her perch and that was it."

Hedwig nodded.

**fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell.**

"**Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now – only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

**A magic wand … this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.**

"Everyone does," Sirius said and ruffled Harry's hair again.

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read**_**Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.**_**A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

"Whose wand is it?" Tonks asked.

"It's just a plastic display wand," Dumbledore explained.

"What's plexic?" asked Ron, once again butchering a muggle word. Harry and Hermione took one look at each other and burst out laughing.

"It's _plastic_, Ron," Hermione said once her giggles subsided. "And it's a muggle material made from polymers…"

She didn't get further in her explanation because Remus had hastily started reading again, before she went into an in-depth explanation, complete with technical words that Ron would probably never understand.

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single spindly chair which Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions which had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

"Good senses," Moody grunted into the silence that followed. Harry was starting to think that every time something like that happened, the people in the room would be shocked into silence. Hedwig nudged his fingers and he immediately became distracted with scratching her again.

"**Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

"So, that's why the chair was broken when we went to buy my wand," Ron's eyes shone in understanding while everyone started either snickering or chuckling.

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

"**Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

"**Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

"Wow, he has a great memory," said Hermione, who herself possessed an eidetic memory, though she didn't like to brag about it. In fact, no one knew she had this particular talent.

"He loves his work," was the only explanation she was given.

**Mr Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

"**Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it – it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."**

**Mr Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

"**And that's where …"**

**Mr Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.**

"That was really creepy and really uncomfortable," said Harry while flattening his fringe to hide the scar from view.

"**I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands … Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do …"**

"You couldn't have known that," said Dumbledore soothingly.

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

"**Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again … Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

"**It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

"**Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

"**Er – yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

"**But you don't use them?" said Mr Ollivander sharply.**

"**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

"No, of course you don't," Tonks said, grinning mischievously. Remus liked her sense of humour.

"**Hmmm," said Mr Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now – Mr Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"**

"**Er – well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

"Nice answer, Harry," said Hermione. "I was completely confused about what he meant by it."

"**Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

"Is that true?" Neville suddenly asked, gripping the pocked in which his wand resided.

"It is true, Mr Longbottom," said McGonagall looking at him weirdly.

"Then," said Neville, visibly gathering his courage, "could you tell that to my gran please, because I'm using my father's wand and I don't think it likes me."

Both McGonagall and Snape were surprised at the revelation. Neville Longbottom didn't have a wand that chose him and yet he still passed his classes with rather average grades. They looked at each other and knew they were thinking of the same thing – that Neville was a rather powerful wizard if he could use a wand that didn't like thim.

"Of course we can," said McGonagall encouragingly. "I shall write a letter to Augusta as soon as we read the books."

"Thanks," Neville said, relieved that perhaps with the right wand he might do better in magic.

**Harry suddenly realised that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

"**That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."**

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.**

"**Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try –"**

**Harry tried – but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr Ollivander.**

"**No, no – here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

"Just how many wands did you go through, before you found yours?" asked a perplexed Hermione. "I only went through five."

"I went through ten," Tonks piped up.

"Two," said a cheerful Ron.

"I took about four," said Sirius.

"Seven for me," Remus inserted his own comment.

"Twenty-five for me," added a jolly Dumbledore. Everyone looked at him surprised. They really should get used to him commenting at the least expected things.

"I went through about forty," Harry admitted, red in the face.

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

"Of course he did," said Dumbledore again. "He loves a challenge."

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere – I wonder, now – yes, why not – unusual combination – holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

Harry perked at the mention of his wand.

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well … how curious … how very curious …"**

"What's curious?" said Sirius curiously.

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious … curious …"**

"**Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"**

"You're so unoriginal Sirius," said a cheeky Harry. "You're still parroting us. First with professor Dumbledore, now with me?"

And then he started laughing as Sirius started tickling him.

"I give, I give," Harry managed to gasp out after a few moments of torture and let Sirius pull him up and into an embrace.

**Mr Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.**

"**I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather – just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother – why, its brother gave you that scar."**

"What?" Remus said in shock. Everyone in the room, except Dumbledore and Harry, were shocked as well.

"I am sure that all will be revealed by the end of the books," Dumbledore tried to calm them down. Remus continued reading, after he realized that nothing more was forthcoming.

**Harry swallowed.**

"**Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember … I think we must expect great things from you, Mr Potter … After all, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things – terrible, yes, but great."**

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand and Mr Ollivander bowed them from his shop.**

**The late-afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawping at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the sleeping snowy owl on Harry's lap. Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realised where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder.**

"**Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

"I know the feeling," said Hermione, who was the only muggle-born in the room.

"**You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life – and yet – he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

"**Everyone thinks I'm special,"**

"That's because you are," said a, for once, serious Sirius. Harry reddened uncomfortably again. Snape blinked at that, but said nothing.

**he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr Ollivander … but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol – sorry – I mean, the night my parents died."**

The room grew sad again, at the reminder of Lily and James' deaths.

**Hagrid leant across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

"**Don' you worry Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts – I did – still do, 'smatter of fact."**

"Hagrid always knows how to cheer me up," said a calmer Harry.

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys, then handed him an envelope.**

"**Yer ticket fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September – King's Cross – it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me … See yeh soon, Harry."**

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"Wait a moment," McGonagall said in realization. "He never told you how to find the platform!"

Ron and Harry looked at each other.

"Don't worry, professor," said Harry soothingly. "I found my way on it alright…" He paused for a more dramatical effect and then added, "It was in second year that I couldn't get on it."

Everyone rolled their eyes at the reminder of the flying car.

"Let me read the next chapter," said an excited Neville and took the offered book.


	7. VI Journey From Platform 9 34

Disclaimer:Everything belongs to JK Rowling I own nothing. Writing in bold comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**VI - The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**

"Hey, this is where we met for the first time!" Ron exclaimed, once again stating the obvious.

"Sure is," Harry agreed with a grin.

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.**

"When is it ever?" Harry mumbled to himself.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything or shout at him – in fact, they didn't speak to him at all. Half-terrified, half-furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it was empty.**

"That must have been lonely," Hermione commented with sympathy in her voice. She knew all about being lonely, seeing as she had no friends before coming to Hogwarts.

"It wasn't as lonely as you think," Harry replied, smiling down at the snowy owl on his lap. "I had Hedwig."

**Although this was an improvement in many ways, it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig,**

Once again, Hedwig perked up at her name and every animal lover in the room smiled. She was a beautiful owl. With a personality to boot.

**a name he had found in**_**A History of Magic**_**. His school books were very interesting.**

"You wound me, Harry," Ron moaned dramatically. Hermione on the other hand looked quite proud of Harry for reading school books. Harry just rolled his eyes at his best friends and motioned for Neville to continue with the reading.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night, Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to hoover anymore, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice. Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another****day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.**

Snape was reminded of his young self, doing the same thing every year as well.

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station next day, so he went down to the living-room, where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

"Very amusing," said Tonks with a twitch of her lips. Harry couldn't agree more.

"**Er – Uncle Vernon?"**

**Uncle Vernon grunted to show he was listening.**

"**Er – I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to – to go to Hogwarts."**

**Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

"**Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"**

**Grunt. Harry supposed that meant yes.**

"Oh, you understand Troll now, Harry?" teased Ron.

"Shut up," murmured Harry.

"**Thank you."**

**He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke.**

"**Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

"No, they're banned from the United Kingdom," replied Hermione, once again sounding like she swallowed a textbook.

"But wouldn't it be fun if we could fly to school on a magic carpet?" Ron said dreamily, probably already imagining it.

"I still think a flying car beats a magic carpet," Harry said, grinning. Remus couldn't stop the groan from escaping (telling stories of Harry's adventures was a favourite past-time for Hogwarts staff to amuse themselves with when they lounged in the staffroom).

"Harry, you didn't," said Sirius (he hadn't heard about Harry's escapades yet), smiling widely. Harry on the other hand, didn't understand why Remus' eyes were shut and why Sirius was cackling.

"Your father and I did the same thing in our sixth year," Sirius said, remembering. "Only, it was my flying motorcycle that we used."

"Yeah?" Harry said. "Where did you land?"

"On the front lawn, why do you ask?" Sirius suddenly became suspicious.

"You'll see," was all he got in return. He could suddenly understand why Remus was rolling his eyes at Harry. It really was getting a bit annoying, having to hear that.

"Just wait until we get to the end of the third book, then you won't be able to tell me 'you'll see' any more, since it'll be the actual future we'll be reading about," Sirius said. Harry blanched at the realization.

"We'll be reading about the future?" Hermione said blankly.

"Apparently so," Dumbledore nodded seriously. He was becoming just a little bit worried about what the books would reveal. Would they reveal his suspicions about how Tom remained alive? Would they reveal the prophecy? And what was it with the last book's title being about the Deathly Hallows (he had managed to take a peek at Harry's letter the night before). Did Harry find out about Dumbledore's suspicions that the Potter family inheritance (the Cloak of Invisibility) was probably a Hallow? He took a swift glance towards the boy in question, becoming more aware of the Elder wand that was hidden in his sleeve.

**Harry didn't say anything.**

"**Where is this school, anyway?"**

"**I don't know," said Harry,**

"It's in Scotland," Hermione said smartly.

"I know that now, Hermione," Harry teased. "You do realize that this happened almost three years ago, don't you?"

Hermione blushed at the reminder, but didn't reply.

**realising this for the first time. He pulled the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.**

"**I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock," he read.**

**His aunt and uncle stared.**

Snape scowled at that. Petunia or Tuney knew perfectly well where the platform was, seeing as she had accompanied Lily once or twice.

"**Platform what?"**

"**Nine and three-quarters."**

"**Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "there is no platform nine and three-quarters."**

"**It's on my ticket."**

"**Barking," said Uncle Vernon, "howling mad, the lot of them. You'll see. You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."**

"**Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

"I shouldn't have bothered," Harry said, sighing to himself.

"**Taking Dudley to hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings."**

**Harry woke at five o'clock the next morning**

"I woke up at seven," Hermione said, and Harry blushed a bit, feeling sheepish.

"I was excited to get away from the Dursleys," was the only explanation he offered.

**and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes – he'd change on the train.**

"That was remarkably sensible, Mr Potter," commented professor McGonagall. Snape couldn't help but agree, remembering how many times Obliviators were needed to make people forget the strange people that were wearing robes converging at the train station.

"What I don't get," Harry said thoughtfully, "is why aren't there wizards stationed there, pretending to be guards and helping the muggle-born students who don't know how to get on the platform."

He was already getting tired of the incredulous looks he was getting every time he mentioned something that was smart.

"You know what, Harry," said a cheerful Dumbledore. "That's exactly what we'll do next September."

**He checked his Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry and they had set off.**

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk on to a trolley and wheeled it into the station for him.**

"That's strangely kind of him," Tonks commented sarcastically, having an inkling as to the reason he did it.

**Harry thought this was strangely kind**

"Oh, Nympha-" Sirius started to say, but shut up at the look on Tonks' face.

"Don't call me Nymphadora," she snarled at him, her hair changing into an angry red colour.

"Okay, okay," Sirius said, trying to calm the girl down.

"I think it's a pretty name," Remus said with a slight smile and Tonks blushed as red as her hair and muttered something under her breath.

**until Uncle Vernon stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"**Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine – platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

"Git," Neville said mildly.

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

"**Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile. He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away. All three of them were laughing.**

"Those... Those gits!" Hermione was lost for words. She seethed at the evilness of Harry's relatives and if she could, she would have burned a hole into the book in Neville's hands.

**Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone.**

**He stopped a passing guard, but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters. The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose.**

"Well, now that you mention it," Sirius started to tease his godson, who was smirking back at him.

"Ergh, you look like a Slytherin when you smirk like that," Ron commented to everyone's amusement.

"And that's a bad thing?" asked Harry, feeling apprehensive.

"No, but I'd have to disown you," Ron said and was rewarded with another smack to his head, courtesy of Hermione. Neville thought this was the most opportune moment to start reading again.

**Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o'clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time-wasters. Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it; he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money and a large owl.**

**Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket box between platforms nine and ten.**

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying.**

"– **packed with Muggles, of course –"**

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair.**

"That's us!" Ron said excitedly.

"We know," everyone told him. He pouted.

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him – and they had an**_**owl**_**.**

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his trolley after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

"**Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

"Why did she ask you that?" asked a perplexed Hermione. "I mean, how many kids did she send to Hogwarts already?"

"Well," started Ron. "When Fred and George were first years, they were so excited about going to Hogwarts that they rushed ahead of mum, got the platform numbers wrong and crashed into the wall. It was pretty funny, actually."

"That explains a lot," was Harry's only comment.

"**Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl,**

"Ginny," murmured Ron.

**also red-headed, who was holding her hand. "Mum, can't I go …"**

"**You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."**

**What looked like the oldest boy marched towards platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it – but just as the boy reached the divide between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him, and by the time the last rucksack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

"What rotten luck," Tonks said.

"No, that's Harry's luck," Ron and Hermione hurried to correct her. Harry did the mature thing and stuck out his tongue.

"**Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

"**I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly woman, call yourself our mother? Can't you**_**tell**_**I'm George?"**

"She falls for that every time," Ron said with a grin.

"**Sorry, George, dear."**

"**Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done, because a second later, he had gone – but how had he done it?**

**Now the third brother was walking briskly towards the ticket barrier – he was almost there – and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.**

**There was nothing else for it.**

"**Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.**

"**Hullo, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."**

"That's me!" Ron said with a grin.

"Yeah, it's you and you're about to hear Harry's description of you," Sirius felt the need to say. This made Ron stop grinning and look worried at once. Harry just rolled his eyes at them.

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet and a long nose.**

"Thanks, Harry," grumbled Ron.

"Any time," Harry quipped.

"**Yes," said Harry. "The thing is – the thing is, I don't know how to–"**

"**How to get on to the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

"**Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

"**Er – OK," said Harry.**

**He pushed his trolley round and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid.**

Tonks snorted.

"Well, it is!" Ron and Harry both argued, having crashed into the barrier in their second year.

**He started to walk towards it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that ticket box and then he'd be in trouble – leaning forward on his trolley he broke into a heavy run – the barrier was coming nearer and nearer – he wouldn't be able to stop – the trolley was out of control – he was a foot away – he closed his eyes ready for the crash –**

**It didn't come … he kept on running … he opened his eyes.**

"You did it, Harry," Tonks said with a grin.

"I'm so proud of you," Sirius added with a small hug. Harry rolled his eyes, but let Sirius hug him.

**A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said**_**Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock**_**. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words**_**Platform Nine and Three-Quarters**_**on it. He had done it.**

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his trolley off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

"That's me," Neville realized.

"**Oh, Neville," he heard the old woman sigh.**

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

"That's Lee Jordan," Ron informed the room.

"I love his Quidditch commentaries," Harry said with a grin.

"You should have heard Remus do it," Sirius said, remembering. Remus scowled at him, but smiled nevertheless.

"I can't decide who was worse, Mr Lupin or Mr Jordan," McGonagall stated.

"You know you love it," Sirius told her.

"**Give us a look, Lee, go on."**

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

Ron shuddered at the mention of Lee's tarantula.

"It's a miracle that Skweesme wasn't squeezed yet," Harry said as he remembered the small tarantula.

"Excuse me?" asked Tonks confused.

"It's Skweesme – the tarantula's name," chortled Neville. McGonagall sighed in exasperation (Snape smirked), while the younger generation burst into laughter at the silly name.

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk towards the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

"Ouch, that happened to me as well," Tonks commented.

"But you probably tripped while you were trying to heave it up, so that's normal for you," Sirius quipped and had to suffer from a stinging hex shot his way.

"I still don't know how you managed to get into the Auror programme," he continued, ignoring the stinging. "I mean, you'll probably flunk the Stealth and Tracking."

"Then I'll make up for it by acing Concealment and Disguise," Tonks replied, hinting towards her Metamorphmagus abilities.

"**Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the ticket box.**

"Wow, so they can be nice," Ron said, remembering all the times the twins had pranked him. McGonagall couldn't agree more with what Ron said. She was pretty surprised to hear that they helped Harry as well. Normally they pranked everyone around them and teased them. She never saw them help someone before. The only time she saw them serious, was when their sister was taken to the Chamber of Secrets.

"**Yes, please," Harry panted.**

"**Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"**

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

"**Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

"**What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

Harry once again tried to hide the scar from view by ducking his head.

"**Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you –?"**

"**He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"_**Harry Potter**_**," chorused the twins.**

"**Oh, him," said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am."**

Silence stretched for a few moments.

"Oh, him?" Ron said finally, shocked out of his mind. Snape was watching Harry trying to make himself invisible. Harry wished for his Invisibility Cloak, and Sirius and Remus looked at each other.

"Oh, _him_?" repeated Ron.

Neville took this opportunity to continue reading, noticing how uncomfortable Harry was feeling. Harry sent him a grateful look in return.

**The two boys gawped at him and Harry felt himself going red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.**

"**Fred? George? Are you there?"**

"**Coming, Mum."**

**With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half-hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying.**

"Mr Potter, eavesdropping is extremely rude," McGonagall chided.

"Maybe, but it's the only way to find out things that no one is telling you about," was the only answer she got. She couldn't decide whether to feel placated or disrespected.

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.**

"**Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

"Awkward," Tonks said.

**The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.**

"**Mum – geroff." He wriggled free.**

"**Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

"**Shut up," said Ron.**

"**Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

"**He's coming now."**

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.**

"**Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the Prefects have got two compartments to themselves –"**

"**Oh, are you a**_**Prefect**_**, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

"**Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once –"**

"**Or twice –"**

"**A minute –"**

"**All summer –"**

"Brilliant," said Sirius as he laughed at the twins' antics.

"**Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

"Has a nice ring to it, Percy the Prefect," said Tonks.

"Not if you knew Percy," Ron said, thinking of his pompous brother.

"I'll have you know that I graduated the year before you got to Hogwarts," Tonks huffed.

"Wow, you're old," Ron said without thinking.

"I can't decide whether I should be insulted or hex you for calling me old," Tonks said, frowning mockingly at Ron.

"Hex him, perhaps he'll learn some tact then," said Hermione icily.

"Oy, what did I do to you?" Ron asked her, wounded.

"If you can't tell what you did, then she really should hex you," Hermione replied, not looking at Ron. Neville took this opportunity to quickly start reading again, not wanting to suffer through another one of Ron and Hermione's quarrels.

"**How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

"**Because he's a**_**Prefect**_**," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term – send me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

"**Now, you two – this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've – you've blown up a toilet or –"**

"That was a mistake," said Sirius. "She just gave them an idea."

"You would know everything about that, wouldn't you?" said Remus, alluding to the Howlers Walburga Black had sent to Sirius and how he went and did the complete opposite of what she demanded of him. Sirius just smiled sheepishly.

"**Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

"**Great idea though, thanks, Mum."**

"See, what did I tell you?"

"No one disagreed with you, Sirius," Harry told him seriously. Sirius pouted.

"**It's**_**not funny**_**. And look after Ron."**

"**Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

"**Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

"**Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

"Here it comes," Harry murmured, blushing.

**Harry leant back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

"**You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

"**Who?"**

"**Harry Potter!"**

**Harry heard the little girl's voice.**

"**Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, oh please …"**

"That's Ginny," said Ron.

"We know," Hermione replied, watching a blushing Harry.

"Oooo, someone has a crush on Harry," Sirius teased his blushing godson. Harry felt irritated at that, but didn't say anything. It wasn't like he disliked Ginny, he just didn't know her that well – and she didn't make things easier by being so shy around him. And there was the whole fiasco with the Chamber of Secrets.

"**You've already seen him, Ginny and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

"**Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there – like lightning."**

"**Poor**_**dear**_**– no wonder he was alone. I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get on to the platform."**

"I was, wasn't I?" said Harry, puffing out his chest. Ron snorted. Snape just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes at the cheeky child. Once again, he was surprised at the lack of loathing he was feeling. Must be something in the air.

"**Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

**Their mother suddenly became very stern.**

"**I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."**

"Guess that didn't apply to you too Ron, eh?" Harry teased. Ron's ears went red.

"**All right, keep your hair on."**

**A whistle sounded.**

"**Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered on to the train. They leant out of the window for her to kiss them goodbye and their younger sister began to cry.**

"**Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

"**We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."**

"**George!"**

"**Only joking, Mum."**

"Actually, he didn't. They really sent her a toilet seat," Ron commented.

"They also tried to send me one, but it got confiscated," Harry said, remembering the end of his first year. Dumbledore smiled at the fuss Madam Pomfrey had made when she saw a toilet seat on one of the bedside tables in the infirmary.

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed; then she fell back and waved.**

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know what he was going to – but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red-headed boy came in.**

"**Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry.**

"**Everywhere else is full."**

"Really, Ron? Because with a train as large as the Hogwarts Express, I doubt that every compartment would be taken," Hermione said sarcastically. Ron scowled at her. Harry on the other hand was feeling uncomfortable.

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked.**

**Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

"Very nice," Hermione said again. Ron had had enough.

"What's wrong with you today? You keep biting my head off and I didn't even do anything!"

Hermione opened her mouth and was about to tell him exactly what he did wrong, when Harry interfered.

"That's enough, both of you. You can settle your argument later when we go to bed, but we're reading a book right now, so if you could please concentrate on that?"

"Yes, Harry," they both said sheepishly and embarrassed. Everyone in the room was impressed by how Harry handled the two. The squabbling of the two teenagers made Remus and Sirius remember the arguments between Lily and James and they just knew that the two of them would one day get married... After Hermione got over whatever it was that was irking her, and when Ron realized that Hermione was a girl. Hopefully sometime before their seventh year.

"**Hey Ron."**

**The twins were back.**

"**Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

"**Right," mumbled Ron.**

"**Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."**

"**Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

"**Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

"Tactful," Neville said, with a grin.

"Well, we all know Ron isn't exactly known for his tact," Harry replied.

"What is it – pick on Ron day or something?" Ron complained. The two boys ignored him and Neville started reading again.

**Harry nodded.**

"**Oh – well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got – you know …"**

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.**

"I know, okay," said Ron this time. "Not tactful!"

"Glad you realize it," Harry quipped with a mischievous smile on his face.

**Harry pulled back his fringe to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

"**So that's where You-Know-Who –?"**

"**Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

"**Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

"**Well – I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

"**Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realised what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

"**Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.**

"You did?" asked a surprised Ron.

"Of course I did," Harry replied.

"**Er – yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

"And why not?" asked an indignant Hermione.

"Because he's a squib and he's bitter – imagine a red-haired Filch and you'll get the equivalent of our cousin," replied Ron. Hermione stayed quiet.

"**So you must know loads of magic already."**

**The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

"No, we clearly aren't," said Ron.

"I know that now," Harry said, feeling tired.

"**I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

"**Horrible – well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

"**Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left – Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a Prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand and Percy's old rat."**

All the teachers looked at each other at that. They knew how Ron had felt (well, most of them anyway), but what they didn't know was – why didn't he try?

"Well, Mr Weasley," started McGonagall. "If you want to be better than your brothers, then why don't you apply yourself more in your studies?"

"Instead of doodling and playing around," added Snape, for once not sounding like the greasy bat of the dungeons he was known as. Ron's ears went red again.

"But you're brilliant at chess," Harry said, trying to make him feel better. "There's no one in Gryffindor who ever beats you and you beat professor McGonagall's chess set in your first year! And we all know that Percy's lousy at chess. And you're a much better singer in the shower than Percy..."

The younger Gryffindor snorted at the last comment, and Ron seemed a bit mollified, but was still feeling embarrassed by being reprimanded by his professors. It made him realize that they were completely right to do so – even Snape. He was always lazy and did the minimal work needed to get by (even with Hermione nagging them to study). It was then and there he decided to try better next year.

Sirius on the other hand was mature enough not to growl at the mention of Pettigrew. Remus rewarded him with a proud look which made Sirius roll his eyes and discreetly stick his tongue out at his brother.

**Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.**

The entire room went tense at the mention of Wormtail, however no one spoke – maybe because they didn't know what to say, or perhaps they didn't want to disturb the atmosphere that was in the room after Ron was reprimanded.

"**His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff – I mean, I got Scabbers instead."**

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

"That's so nice of you, Ronald," said Hermione, but subsided at once as soon as Harry gave her _the_ look.

_Merlin, that look was pure Lily_, Severus thought to himself, unaware of similar thoughts flying through the minds of most people who knew Lily Evans and her legendary temper. Especially if they were on the receiving end of it... like Sirius...

"… **and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort –"**

**Ron gasped.**

"**What?" said Harry.**

"**You**_**said You-Know-Who's name**_**!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people –"**

"**I'm not trying to be**_**brave**_**or anything, saying the name," said Harry. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn … I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

"Again with the pessimism," Remus mumbled. He could still remember how depressed Harry was every time he couldn't produce a full patronus. _But_, he supposed, _with how his life was at the Dursleys, it's no wonder he doesn't have that many happy memories._

"**You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."**

"*cough*Hermione*cough*" commented Neville, grinning slightly at the intelligent witch. Ron and Harry snickered at the blushing Hermione.

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"**

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor.**

**He had never had any money for sweets with the Dursleys and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry – but the woman didn't have Mars Bars.**

"What's Mars Bars?" asked Ron.

"It's a muggle sweet," replied Harry.

**What she did have were Bertie Bolt's Every-Flavour Beans, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.**

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back into the compartment and tipped it on to an empty seat.**

"**Hungry, are you?"**

"**Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches in there. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."**

"I love corned beef," Tonks said with a smile as she remembered her mother making them for her on every September 1st.

"**Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on–"**

"**You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

"**Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties and cakes (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

"**What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not**_**really**_**frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

"**No," said Ron. "But see what the card is, I'm missing Agrippa."**

"I have about five of them," Remus said.

"You would, what with your chocolate addiction," Sirius teased. Remus blushed a bit but rolled his eyes anyway.

"I can give one of them to you," he said to Ron, ignoring the chuckling in the room.

"Thanks, that would be great!" Ron said happily.

"**What?"**

"**Oh, of course, you wouldn't know – Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect – Famous Witches and Wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."**

"I've got six Ptolemys too," Remus once again said.

"And about a hundred Dumbledores," Sirius added and poked Remus in the ribs. Remus did the mature thing and ignored him.

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long crooked nose and flowing silver hair, beard and moustache. Underneath the picture was the name**_**Albus Dumbledore**_**.**

"Your first Famous Witches and Wizards card, and it had to be Dumbledore," Tonks shook her head.

"**So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

"**Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa – thanks –"**

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

_**Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with**____**his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

"If only I remembered about this sooner," Harry mumbled and looked at Ron and Hermione who were snickering to themselves.

"What was that?" Sirius asked curiously.

"You'll see," Harry replied cheekily.

"I hate that," Sirius whined.

"I know, that's why I'll keep saying it," Harry teased. Sirius rolled his eyes and ruffled Harry's hair again.

**Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.**

"**He's gone!"**

"**Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron. "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her … do you want it? You can start collecting."**

"I don't have any Morganas," Tonks piped up.

"I'll give you one," said Ron, completely in his element.

"Thanks, you're the best," Tonks grinned.

**Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.**

"**Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

"**Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed.**_**"Weird!"**_

"You sounded just like your dad there," Harry laughed, remembering Mr Weasley's enthusiasm and curiosity about all things muggle.

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcraft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus and Merlin.**

"Wow, nice start with the cards, Paracelsus is extremely rare to find," Tonks breathed.

**He finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bolt's Every-Flavour Beans.**

"**You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavour, they**_**mean**_**every flavour – you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a bogey-flavoured one once."**

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully and bit into a corner.**

"**Bleaaargh – see? Sprouts."**

"I love sprouts," Hermione piped up.

**They had a good time eating the Every-Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.**

**The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills.**

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

"**Sorry" he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

"**He'll turn up," said Harry.**

"That was very nice of you, Harry," said Remus, feeling proud of his cub. Harry reddened a bit.

"**Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him …"**

**He left.**

"**Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

"And Ron's sensibility strikes again," Harry said as Ron's ears pinked again.

"Sorry, Neville," Ron apologized. Neville shook his head, trying to calm himself before he burst into laughter. He couldn't expect anything else from Ron. After all, it is Ron we're talking about.

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

"**He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look …"**

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

"**Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway –"**

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

"Ooo, Hermione's next!" Ron said gleefully, ignoring or not noticing Hermione's scowl.

"**Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.**

"I do not have a bossy sort of voice," said Hermione sniffily.

"You kind of do," Ron said, not noticing the dangers of Hermione's bad temper.

"Oh, shut up," she said and ignored him.

"**We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

"**Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."**

**She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

"**Er – all right."**

**He cleared his throat.**

"**Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,  
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."**

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.**

"**Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard – I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough – I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"**

"Merlin, Hermione, you really can talk fast," Neville breathed as he tried to get as much air in his lungs as possible.

"She has to, if she wants to tell the teachers as much information as possible in as short a time," Harry teased and was rewarded with another glare from Hermione.

**She said all this very fast.**

**Harry looked at Ron and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learnt all the set books off by heart either.**

"**I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

"**Harry Potter," said Harry.**

"**Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course – I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in**_**Modern Magical History**_**and**_**Fall of the Dark Arts**_**and **_**Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century**_**."**

"You know, Mrs Granger, you shouldn't put all your faith in books – they can be wrong... they usually are," said a thoughtful Dumbledore. Hermione looked taken aback at this and Harry noticed she was starting to feel insecure again. He suddenly realized that it was all Hermione had (apart from her friends) that made her feel as if she belonged in the Wizarding world.

"Hermione, no matter how much you learn, you're still a brilliant witch and you belong in this world. You don't have to prove yourself so much," he said softly. Hermione's eyes started tearing and he quickly continued before he made it worse.

"You don't have to push yourself so much – you have an eidetic memory and you memorize things easily. You're a nerd, plainly speaking,..." Hermione felt hurt at that even though she had to wonder just how Harry knew about her eidetic memory, until Harry hastily added, "But you're our nerd and we love you just the way we are – that's what I wanted to say."

"Oh, Harry," she cried and ran to hug him. Harry smiled into her shoulder and patted her back softly as she cried. Ron was looking helpless – he wanted to comfort her, but he didn't want to put his foot in his mouth again and come out as an insensitive brute, like she'd told him he was so many times before.

Remus and Sirius looked at the teenage boy proudly. Once Hermione calmed herself down and went back to her seat, Ron carefully put an arm around her and she looked at him gratefully, resting her head on his shoulder as Neville read on.

"**Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

"**Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad … Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."**

**And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.**

"**Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.**

The adults just shook their heads at the boy.

"I didn't mean it," Ron tried to dig himself out of the hole he dug.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell – George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

"**What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.**

"**Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw**_**would**_**be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

"**That's the house Vol – I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

"**Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.**

"**You know, I think the ends of Scabbers's whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses.**

"Didn't work, Harry," Ron said, grinning a bit.

"**So what do your oldest brothers do now they've left, anyway?"**

**Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

"**Charlie's in Romania studying dragons and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron.**

"He's a curse-breaker," Ron said. "Sorry for not being more specific."

"It's okay – it wouldn't be you if you were," Harry laughed.

"**Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the**_**Daily Prophet,**_**but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles – someone tried to rob a high-security vault."**

**Harry stared.**

"**Really? What happened to them?"**

"**Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

"And he was," Harry muttered to Sirius' surprise. He looked over to the other two parts of the Golden Trio as he started dubbing them in his mind, and saw they had the same look on their faces as Harry did. Something was going on and he wasn't sure if he liked it.

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying.**

"You're a funny one, aren't ya?" Tonks said with a grin.

"**What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

"**Er – I don't know any," Harry confessed.**

"It's Puddlemere United," the Harry in the room said, to the utter disgust of Ron, who was a die-hard Chudley Cannons fan.

"They're also my favourite team," professor Dumbledore admitted.

"Not you too, sir," Ron said aghast to the amusement of everyone in the room.

"**What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world –" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the****positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy or Hermione Granger this time.**

**Three boys entered and Harry recognised the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

"Nooooooo," moaned Tonks as she realized who it was. "Can't he just leave you alone?"

"Nope," said a cheerful Harry. Snape looked up at the mention of Draco Malfoy. He was curious if Draco's version of how he met Potter on the train matched Potter's.

"**Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

"**Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing either side of the pale boy they looked like bodyguards.**

"**Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

"Did Malfoy ever watch James Bond?" asked a chuckling Hermione. The only ones to get the reference were Harry (he read one of Ian Fleming's books) and Tonks (being a half-blood with a muggle-born father). All three of them looked at each other and started laughing. The others were confused.

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

"**Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."**

**He turned back to Harry.**

"**You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."**

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

"**I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

"Nice comeback, Harry," Tonks said with a smile.

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.**

"**I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."**

"That... that little git," Sirius said enraged. "How dare he!"

Snape on the other hand was considering taking points from Slytherin for the first time in a long while. Draco had made it sound like Harry had insulted him, when it was the other way around. It made him remember the boy's father and their rivalry – and hoped that Draco and Harry would never have such a strong hatred as James Potter and Severus Snape did. He still hated James Potter, though... don't get him wrong.

**Both Harry and Ron stood up. Ron's face was as red as his hair.**

"**Say that again," he said.**

"**Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.**

"**Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

"**But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

**Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron – Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

"Why? What happened," asked a confused Tonks. Ron and Harry just grinned at each other, although they were bitter grins.

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle**

"Nice one," Neville said.

– **Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.**

"**What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

"**I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No – I don't believe it – he's gone back to sleep."**

**And so he had.**

"**You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

"**I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

"**You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up the front to ask the driver and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

"**Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

"**All right – I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice.**

"My voice is not sniffy," said Hermione.

"I'm not going to argue about how your voice sounds again," Harry replied.

"**And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

"Would you give it a rest with my nose already!" Ron said, annoyed. This was probably the third or the fourth time his smudged nose was mentioned.

**Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep-purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.**

**He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his trainers underneath them.**

**A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

"It always says the same thing," Tonks said sadly.

"Not in our fifth year," grinned Sirius and immediately went quiet as McGonagall looked at him sternly.

"I should have known you would have something to do with it," she sighed finally.

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shiv**

**The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Harry?"**

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.**

"**C'mon, follow me – any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

"**Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

**There was a loud "Oooooh!".**

"Always the same reaction," chuckled Dumbledore.

"Did you do the Ooooooh as well, professor?" asked Harry with a grin.

"I must confess I did," the Headmaster twinkled at the black-haired boy.

**The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

"It's such a beautiful sight," Harry sighed.

"**No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.**

"**Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then – FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

"**Heads down!" yelled Hagrid**

"Has anyone ever crashed into the cliff?" asked a curious Hermione. There was no answer, but the marauders did take a quick look at Snape. Harry took this as an affirmative that it was the Potions master that crashed, although probably unwillingly. He sighed at the reminder that his father wasn't a saint. Of course, he always knew his parents weren't perfect, but it was still nice to imagine them as such. It was always a bit of a let-down whenever their flaws were mentioned... though, he never heard much about his mother, more about his father. He frowned at that and decided to ask Sirius about it before going to bed.

**as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles.**

"**Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

"**Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.**

**They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

"**Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"**

**Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

"That's it," said an excited Neville. Even Snape was feeling a bit of excitement at the next chapter – they would get to hear the Sorting (although with so many Sortings, it was bound to get boring a bit, but if the story was in Potter's point of view then he would get to hear what the Sorting Hat said to him – he was under it for quite a few minutes). Making a decision, he stretched his hand and motioned for Longbottom to hand him the book.

Everyone stared at him in surprise and he scowled at them.


	8. VII The Sorting Hat

Disclaimer:Everything belongs to JK Rowling I own nothing. Writing in bold comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**VII – The Sorting Hat**

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

"Something you and James never learnt," McGonagall sighed at Sirius. The only response she got back was a cheeky grin.

"**The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.**

"**Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."**

"You always do," teased Sirius.

**She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.**

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right – the rest of the school must already be here – but Professor McGonagall showed the first-years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.**

"**Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.**

"**The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.**

"**The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."**

"You don't change much, do you?" Sirius grinned at McGonagall.

"You mean she uses the same speech every year?" asked Hermione curiously, not noticing McGonagall's frowning.

"Yep, or at least she used the same one when we were first years," Sirius replied.

"She also used it when I came to Hogwarts," Tonks said cheekily.

"Enough!" interrupted a stern McGonagall.

"Yes, Minnie," replied Sirius.

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose.**

"Would you give it a rest with my nose already!" Ron got angry.

"I think that's the last mention of it, actually," Harry said grinning at his friend.

**Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.**

"Not going to work," Ron, Hermione, Neville, Remus and Sirius all said in unison. Harry scowled at them.

"**I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."**

**She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.**

"**How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.**

"**Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."**

"You really should learn not to believe what the twins say," Hermione said.

"Well, they're smart enough to tell the truth half the time, so I don't know what's true and what's not," Ron complained.

"I like them already," Sirius commented with a huge grin on his face.

**Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yet – what on earth would he have to do? He hadn't expected something like this the moment they arrived. He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learnt and wondering which one she'd need.**

"You heard that?" Hermione asked embarrassed.

**Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

"Drama queen," Sirius coughed and snickered. He was rewarded by a jab into his ribs. That hurt.

**Then something happened which made him jump about a foot in the air – several people behind him screamed.**

"Ah, the ghosts. Did they argue about giving Peeves another chance again?" Remus asked. The children nodded.

"They do that every year as well," Sirius added. "You'd think it would get old sooner, seeing at they're ghosts."

"**What the –?"**

**He gasped.**

"At least you didn't scream like a girl," Sirius chuckled. Remus blushed and tried not to meet anyone's eyes. Of course, Harry being Harry, noticed it and figured out it was his favourite professor that screamed. He grinned to himself.

**So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first-years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance –"**

"**My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost – I say, what are you all doing here?"**

**A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first-years.**

"Nearly Headless Nick," said Sirius smartly.

"We know," Ron and Hermione replied.

"Would you stop interrupting my reading with such unimportant things!" Snape snarled, having reached his limit. He wanted to read about Potter's sorting. The teens had the decency to look sheepish, while Black glared at him. He glared right back, daring him to say something.

**Nobody answered.**

"**New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"**

**A few people nodded mutely.**

"**Hope to see you in Hufflepuff" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."**

"We know," said Sirius, grinning cheekily at Snape. Snape gnashed his teeth together, but resolutely ignored the mutt. Harry looked between his Potions professor and his godfather. The two adults clearly disliked each other very much. He wondered why and then realized that his father and Sirius probably weren't very nice to Snape when they were at Hogwarts. Snape did always tell him that his father was an arrogant git that strutted around the school as if he owned it. He wasn't sure what to believe. From the story Remus and Sirius told him in the Shrieking Shack, his dad seemed like a mixture between Ron Weasley (with his prejudices) and Draco Malfoy (with his arrogance).

"**Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."**

**Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.**

"**Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first-years, "and follow me."**

**Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair,**

"Seamus," Ron told them.

**with Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.**

**Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first-years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in**_**Hogwarts: A History**_**."**

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.**

**Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house.**

"Harry," chuckled Dumbledore.

**Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it,**

"Why a rabbit?" asked a confused Ron.

"It's a muggle magician trick," Hermione explained.

**Harry thought wildly, that seemed the sort of thing – noticing that everyone in the Hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it too. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth – and the hat began to sing:**

"_**Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,**_

"Don't worry, we don't," Sirius said with a grin.

_**But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,**_

"Does this mean that the Hat can read our minds?" asked a curious Harry. He had wondered about that for a while.

"He only uses a very quick Legilimency on you, just to get information on your personality," Dumbledore explained.

"What's Legilimency?" asked Hermione. Harry and Ron looked at each other in surprise. It wasn't often that Hermione didn't know an answer to a question.

"It's the art of extracting emotions and memories from someone's mind," Snape started explaining, before he could stop himself. "The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing... It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly."

Harry listened to the professor speak with unsuppressed interest. It sounded like Voldemort knew Legilimency as well – otherwise, how would he have known that he was lying about the Philosopher's Stone in his first year? He blanched. This sounded very wrong to him. He didn't want Voldemort reading his mind.

"Can we protect ourselves against it?" he asked the Potions professor with anxiety. "I don't want Voldemort reading my mind again."

There was a shocked silence when he said that.

"The Dark Lord has used Legilimency on you?" Snape asked loudly. Dumbledore and Moody both looked worried.

"In my first year, he knew I was lying about not having the Philosopher's Stone," Harry said, remembering. "And he knew it was in my pocket." Snape was silent for a few moments, trying to clear his mind of the revelation. Then he spoke again.

"The only way to protect your mind, is to learn Occlumency." And before anyone could ask what Occlumency was, he continued, "Occlumency is the art of magically defending the mind against external penetration, sealing it against magical intrusion and influence."

Harry went silent and thoughtful at that. It seemed like a good thing to learn, but he didn't know who would teach him – he wasn't exactly sure that Snape would agree if he asked him.

"Thank you," he said as an afterthought and went back to his thoughts. The room was watching him think. To some, it was a very unusual sight.

After a few minutes of silence, Snape had enough and started to read again.

_**So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"**_

"That was actually a nice song. All we got were warnings," said Remus thoughtfully.

"We were in the middle of the war, after all," McGonagall said softly.

**The whole Hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**

"**So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."**

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked at each other. The main question on Hermione and Harry's minds was if Ron did have a bit of seer blood in him, or was it a coincidence. They decided to be on the look-out from now on.

**Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.**

"I think if there was a house like that, everyone would be in it," Sirius laughed.

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**

"**When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"**

**A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause –**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.**

Tonks cheered and clapped.

**The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.**

"**Bones, Susan!"**

"Bones?" asked Tonks. "Is she related to Amelia Bones perchance?"

"She's her niece," Dumbledore explained.

"**HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.**

"**Boot, Terry!"**

"**RAVENCLAW!"**

**The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.**

"**Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender"**

"Isn't it funny that she has two colours as her name?" Tonks said chuckling. The four Gryffindors looked at each other. They never noticed that.

**became the first new Gryffindor and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.**

"**Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked an unpleasant lot.**

"All that inbreeding does tend to make them look like that," Sirius said.

Snape raised his eyebrow at that. "What does that make you look like, then?" he asked sneeringly.

"Shut up, Snivellus," Sirius growled.

"Don't call me Sni-" Snape was interrupted by Dumbledore clearing his throat slightly. Scowling, he returned to reading the book. Harry was watching his godfather and professor again. Snivellus was apparently a name Sirius tended to call Snape often from what Harry understood. It made him remember what the Dursleys called him all the time – freak. He didn't like it. He didn't like seeing his godfather being so mean to Snape either. He didn't know if Snape did something that made Sirius hate him, or if it was that Sirius was just like Ron with his prejudice against all things Slytherin. His brain started to hurt from thinking about this, so he concentrated on listening to his professor's velvet voice again.

**He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during sports lessons at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked him.**

Snape paused for a micro moment there, remembering the same thing happening to him in elementary school, before he went off to Hogwarts... not that it changed much when he got there.

"**Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"**

"**HUFFLEPUFF!"**

**Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus", the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.**

"**Granger, Hermione!"**

**Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

"**GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.**

"Ron!" Hermione said, scandalized.

"Sorry, didn't mean it that way," Ron mumbled, his ears pink again.

**A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?**

**When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR", Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag".**

The Neville in the room blushed as his friends chuckled at that.

"That happened to James too," Sirius grinned. "He was so excited."

**Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"**

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.**

**There weren't many people left now.**

"**Moon" … "Nott" … "Parkinson" … then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" … then "Perks, Sally-Anne" … and then, at last –**

"**Potter, Harry!"**

**As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.**

"_**Potter**_**, did she say?"**

"_**The**_**Harry Potter?"**

"That was very annoying," Harry felt the need to inform the room. Ron and Hermione rolled their eyes, by now knowing just how annoying Harry's fame was to their friend.

**The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the Hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.**

"**Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes – and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting … So where shall I put you?"**

"So, you mean to tell me that you could have gotten in any of the houses?" Tonks said, surprised. She had thought that the hat would have immediately sorted him into Gryffindor. The same thoughts were flying through the minds of almost everyone in the room, except Harry, who was now tense again.

**Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin."**

"**Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that – no? Well, if you're sure – better be GRYFFINDOR!"**

Silence reigned in the room again, and Harry started to feel hot under the gaze of the people in the room. Snape on the other hand was shocked to hear that Harry was almost sorted into his house. _Though, seeing how his childhood was, I'm not too surprised_, he admitted to himself.

Remus was glaring at the back of Sirius' head, knowing what was going on in his friend's mind better than anyone in the room did. Sirius was silent and wasn't looking at Harry. Ron and Hermione weren't that surprised – they knew just how sneaky Harry could be if he wanted to. Neville also wasn't that surprised by the revelation. The hat did want to put Harry in any house after all.

"The hat wanted to put you in Slytherin," Sirius finally said in a weird voice. Harry looked at him inquiringly, but remained quiet.

"Sirius," said Remus warningly, but Sirius either didn't hear the warning or didn't care about it.

Harry suddenly knew what was happening. Sirius was going to hate him for almost becoming a Slytherin. He exchanged a begging look with Tonks and suddenly stood up and moved towards the sofa where his friends sat. Tonks smiled at him gently, before standing up as well and moving to sit in-between Remus and Sirius, only blushing a little at sitting next to Remus.

Ron and Hermione immediately put their arms around him and glared over at Sirius who still didn't look at Harry and had a strange look on his face.

"Ignore him," said Harry quietly to his friends and they acquiesced.

"It wanted to put you into _Slytherin_?" Sirius exclaimed, still looking weird.

"There's nothing wrong with being a Slytherin!" Harry had finally had enough. Snape looked at the boy in shock (though it didn't show on his face).

"You'd think that if Slytherin was the house of evil, people would have destroyed it long ago and there would be no Slytherin house any more. And don't forget that Pettigrew was a Gryffindor and he betrayed my parents to Voldemort! Should we say that Gryffindor was evil too? Because someone out of Gryffindor went bad? And what about professor Lupin, he's a werewolf, and they're considered dark and evil as well, does that mean he's evil too?" Harry continued ranting. Sirius blinked at the mention of Wormtail, but didn't say anything – he couldn't because someone had placed a non-verbal Silencing charm on him.

Snape on the other hand, was feeling strangely indignant on Potter's behalf. His godfather had seemed cool with the boy being a parselmouth, but the thought of Harry being a Slytherin over Gryffindor didn't seem to settle well with the dog animagus. Severus had to wonder if Black would abandon his godson over this, like he abandoned his brother, Regulus, and his other family (apart from Andromeda and Tonks, apparently). He felt strangely protective over the boy for a second, before he gave himself a mental slap and stopped thinking about it.

"Merlin, you're such an asshole," Harry finished his rant and scowled at Sirius, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Language, Mr Potter," he heard himself say, though mentally he was laughing at what the boy had said.

"Sorry, sir," Harry said, pinking a bit.

**Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole Hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily towards the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged it into a bucket of ice-cold water.**

"Hate it when that happens," Ron said, trying to cheer his best friend up. He was rewarded with a weak smile.

**He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs-up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognised him at once from the card he'd got out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole Hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts. Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a****large purple turban.**

**And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Turpin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"**

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.**

"**Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise" was made a Slytherin. Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.**

**Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realised how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.**

**Albus Dumbledore had got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.**

"That was a correct assumption, Mr Potter," Dumbledore said, smiling. "I'm always happy to see my students again."

"**Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!**

"**Thank you!"**

"Do you always give such rousing speeches, professor?" Tonks said, trying to get a smile out of the serious people in the room.

"As often as I can manage, Miss Tonks," the Headmaster twinkled.

**He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.**

"**Is he – a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly.**

"Of course I am, all the best wizards are," Dumbledore assured them. Harry let out a small snort while Hermione giggled.

"**Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"**

**Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some strange reason, mint humbugs.**

**The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if it made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the humbugs and began to eat. It was all delicious.**

"**That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.**

"**Can't you –?"**

"**I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."**

"**I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you – you're Nearly Headless Nick!"**

"He won't like that," Remus said, smiling a bit.

"**I would**_**prefer**_**you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy –" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.**

"_**Nearly**_**Headless? How can you be**_**nearly**_**headless?"**

"He won't like that either," McGonagall commented.

**Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.**

"**Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell on to his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back on to his neck, coughed and said, "So – new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the House Championship this year? Gryffindor have never gone so long without winning. Slytherin have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable – he's the Slytherin ghost."**

**Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.**

"**How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.**

"Bet you Harry finds out somehow," Tonks said. McGonagall could only shake her head at the metamorphmagus.

"**I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.**

**When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the puddings appeared. Blocks of ice-cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, rice pudding …**

**As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.**

"**I'm half and half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mam didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."**

**The others laughed.**

"It is not a laughing matter," Snape said, thinking about his own father who hated him and his mother because they were magical and he wasn't.

"I wasn't laughing at it either," Harry said quietly.

"**What about you, Neville?" said Ron.**

"**Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all Muggle for ages. My great-uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me**

"You cannot force magic out of someone," McGonagall said indignantly.

**- he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned – but nothing happened until I was eight. Great-uncle Algie came round for tea and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles**

"But Neville, that's not right," Hermione whispered. McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged looks. They were both in agreement that they had to speak to Augusta about this.

**when my great-auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced – all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased. Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here – they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great-uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."**

**On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons ("I**_**do**_**hope they start straight away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult –"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing –").**

"That's Hermione for you," Ron said fondly.

**Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose and sallow skin.**

Snape wasn't sure if he should be insulted or grateful that it wasn't a worse description.

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes – and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.**

"What happened?" asked a worried Remus. He had never heard of anything like this happening before. Of course, he didn't know anything about curse scars either, so he shouldn't be talking.

"You'll see," Harry said darkly.

"**Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.**

"**What is it?" asked Percy.**

"**N-nothing."**

**The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had got from the teacher's look – a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.**

_And the feeling was quite mutual, at least until a few chapters ago_, thought Snape to himself. Of course, he still didn't like Potter that much, but he didn't outright hate him anymore. He couldn't – he saw too much of himself in the boy. Now that's a laughable thought.

"**Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.**

"**Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to – everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."**

"Of course he does, anyone with a brain would know that to be able to defend yourself against the Dark Arts you have to know something about them," Harry said scathingly. He wasn't the best in their year at Defence Against the Dark Arts for nothing.

Once again, Snape wasn't sure if he should feel insulted or complimented.

**Harry watched Snape for a while but Snape didn't look at him again.**

"And why would I, you're not that interesting to look at," Snape said before he could stop himself. Merlin, did he just _tease_ the boy? Harry seemed to think he was, because he started chortling.

**At last, the puddings too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent.**

"**Ahem – just a few more words now we are all fed and watered.**

"What are we, horses?" Ron complained.

**I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.**

"**First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."**

**Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

"Always did that with us too," Remus said, smiling a bit.

"**I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.**

"Don't know what you still remind them, Albus," McGonagall sighed. "They never listen to that."

"I have to try," Dumbledore defended himself with a twinkle.

"**Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.**

"**And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."**

"You know, knowing children, you shouldn't have said that. Curiosity killed the cat, remember?" Remus said seriously.

"I know, but I had to warn them nonetheless," Dumbledore sighed.

**Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.**

"**He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.**

"**Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us Prefects, at least."**

"Pompous prat," Ron mumbled, frowning at the book.

"**And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.**

"You noticed that as well, did you?" said McGonagall, with a small twitch to her lips.

**Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he was trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words.**

"**Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"**

**And the school bellowed:**

"_**Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot."**_

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand, and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.**

"**Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"**

"Again, what are we, horses?" Ron complained again.

**The Gryffindor first-years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall and up the marble staircase.**

**Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much further they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.**

**A bundle of walking sticks was floating in mid-air ahead of them and as Percy took a step towards them they started throwing themselves at him.**

"**Peeves," Percy whispered to the first-years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves – show yourself."**

**A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.**

"**Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"**

**There was a**_**pop**_**and a little man with wicked dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.**

"**Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle firsties! What fun!"**

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.**

"**Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.**

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head.**

"Why is it always me?" Neville sighed.

**They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.**

"**You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us Prefects. Here we are."**

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.**

"**Password?" she said.**

"_**Caput Draconis,"**___**said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it – Neville needed a leg up – and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.**

**Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase – they were obviously in one of the towers – they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep-red velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pyjamas and fell into bed.**

"**Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get**_**off,**_**Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets."**

Ron scowled at the mention of his rat.

**Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once.**

**Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully – and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it – then Malfoy turned into the hooknosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold – there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.**

"You had one weird dream," Tonks said.

"I think it was a premonition, actually," Harry replied thoughtfully. After all, Voldemort was in the back of Quirrell's head.

**He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.**

"I'll read next," said McGonagall and took the book from Severus' fingers.


	9. Break I

Disclaimer:Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**BREAK I**

"First of all," Remus said, before McGonagall could continue reading. "I'd like to take a small break to talk to Sirius."

Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Hermione as he watched Lupin drag Sirius to another room (the one with breakable things). Sirius went quietly, but not without looking at Harry with a strange look on his face again. Harry huffed.

"Don't worry," Hermione said, trying to comfort him. "He'll come around."

"Bloody hell, I hope he gets that stick out of his arse," Ron exclaimed as soon as the doors were closed. Harry snorted as Hermione reprimanded Ron for his language. The professors decided to ignore it for the time being. After all – they all hoped that the same thing would happen.

"Really, thanks guys," Harry smiled gratefully. He couldn't imagine having better friends than Ron and Hermione.

On the other side of the closed door, Remus was pacing in front of the bed on which Sirius was sitting quietly. He hadn't felt the need to remove the Silencing charm yet as he tried to calm himself down enough so that he wouldn't maim Sirius for his stupidity. He had tried to beat it out of him years and years ago, but apparently it didn't work. He wondered if he should do it again.

Sirius on the other hand was feeling terrible, disgusted and sick all at the same time. He couldn't tell if it was at himself or Harry though. All he could think about was his Slytherin family and how they behaved towards him and anyone they didn't deem worthy. He knew he should feel ashamed of himself for his reaction at finding out that Harry almost became a Slytherin, but he just couldn't shake of the memories.

"I'm disappointed in you," Remus' voice broke hiim out of his miserable musings.

"I thought you have grown up a bit, but I guess being locked in Azkaban didn't help you in that department and you're still locked into your twenty-year-old mental self," Lupin continued.

"You have to understand, though, that Harry is not your mother, and neither is he your father, your brother, or has any kind of a connection to your family. He's simply a smart, cunning, brave and loyal young man that observes too much, has impressive instincts for someone so young, and is cheeky with people he feels comfortable with."

With that he lifted the Silencing spell from his friend and let him stew in silence as he walked out of the room and into the common room. He started to go to Harry, but changed his mind as he saw him being surrounded by his friends. Instead, he went to sit next to Tonks again, hoping that Sirius would join them soon. He was quite nervous in the presence of the young girl.

Fifteen minutes later, Sirius did come out of the room and sat himself next to Remus and Tonks. He was still quiet, but a little fidgety. It looked as if he was gathering his courage up to speak.

"Harry," Sirius said quietly, but loud enough so that everyone could hear him. "I'd like to apologize for my reaction. I hope that you can forgive me for how I acted. The only explanation I can offer you is that the mention of Slytherin makes me remember my family. And my family is kind of like your muggle one, only they could use magic to punish me. Mother tried to disown me when I was sorted into Gryffindor, and my father wanted me to join Voldemort. I ran away when I was sixteen."

Harry was silent as he listened to his godfather. He wasn't sure what to say or think of that.

"It was actually your dad's place I went to and your grandparents were really nice. I could always come for a family lunch on Sundays after I graduated," Sirius continued with a small smile on his face.

"That, or die of food poisoning," Remus said, trying to lift the tension in the room. It worked, as first Harry, then the other kids, Tonks, and finally even McGonagall and Sirius started laughing.

"It's okay, I guess I understand," Harry said. Sirius' face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"I think we can continue reading now, Minerva," Remus said satisfied with the outcome.


	10. VIII The Potions Master

**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**VIII - The Potions Master**

"Why does he have to get his own chapter?" Sirius whined. Snape didn't say anything, but the smirk on his face was worth a thousand words anyway.

"I'm sure you'll get one in the third book," Harry teased. Remus was pleased to see that Harry was still comfortable around his godfather – he had been expecting that it would take a while for him to get relaxed around Sirius again, but the boy kept surprising him.

McGonagall cleared her throat and said, "Now, if I could begin to read?"

Everyone went quiet. Sirius even mimed zipping his lips.

"**There, look."**

"**Where?"**

"**Next to the tall kid with the red hair."**

"**Wearing the glasses?"**

"**Did you see his face?"**

"**Did you see his scar?"**

"That was really annoying, by the way," Harry felt the need to inform the others.

"We know," Ron and Hermione said in unison, Neville just a second behind them. All four of the teenagers looked at each other and burst out laughing. Most of the adults on the other hand, felt the need to roll their eyes.

**Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory next day. People queuing outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes.**

**There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump.**

Neville winced at the mention of the vanishing steps. He lost count of how many times he's forgotten about them and got caught in one of them.

**Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to****remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other and Harry was sure the coats of armour could walk.**

"They can," Sirius teased. Harry did the only thing that he could think of – he ignored his godfather.

**The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop waste-paper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"**

"He still does that?" asked a surprised Sirius. Harry had a bad feeling about this comment.

"Of course he does, you taught it to him," Remus said exasperatedly. Harry now knew why he had a bad feeling. He hoped that Sirius hadn't taught anything else to the crazy poltergeist. Or anyone else still in the castle, at that.

**Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning.**

"Wow, not even James and I managed to do that," said Sirius proudly.

"And we're thankful for that," McGonagall said, slightly irritated at all the interruptions.

**Filch found them trying to force their way through a door which unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor.**

"You have the worst luck, Harry," Tonks said, shaking her head.

"That's Harry for you," Ron quickly said, ignoring the elbow in his ribs – courtesy of Harry.

**He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.**

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other. They all knew that professor Quirrell wasn't just passing by now.

**Filch owned a cat called Mrs Norris, a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamp-like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line,**

"That sounds like something my mum would say," Ron grumbled disgustedly to the amusement of everyone who knew Molly Weasley.

"I think it's something she actually said," Harry said, grinning. It took Ron a few seconds to remember his mum's Howler from last year and he immediately went as red as his hair. Hermione giggled as she remembered the incident as well.

**and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs Norris a good kick.**

"I kicked her once," said Sirius proudly.

"I kind of figured that out by myself, thanks," Harry said.

**And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the lessons themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.**

Harry was reminded of his first Potions lesson. It seemed Hermione also remembered it and with a look at each other, they quoted their professor in unison,

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic."

Harry could see Dumbledore's beard and professor Snape's eyelid twitch, and decided to have a little fun.

"I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach," he continued to quote his Potions professor.

"That was quite the speech professor Snape," Tonks said, after she finished giggling. "You should have stopped at stoppering death though."

Snape glared at everyone, but somehow couldn't make himself glare at Harry – he was impressed that the boy remembered his speech from all those years ago.

**They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learnt how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for.**

"I love Herbology," Neville said with a smile.

**Easily the most boring lesson was History of Magic, which was the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff-room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates and got Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.**

**Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first lesson he took the register, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.**

McGonagall shook her head at her colleague's antics, and continued reading.

**Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they had sat down in her first class.**

"**Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."**

"You warned us too, but you never threw us out," Sirius said smugly.

"That's not something you should be proud of, Mr Black," McGonagall said in her strictest voice.

**Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realised they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After making a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.**

"You didn't inherit your father's talent in Transfiguration then," Sirius commented. Harry frowned at that. While he loved being compared to his father most of the time, he didn't like it when Sirius did it for some reason. It made him feel as if Sirius was trying to replace him (Harry) with James.

"I am not my father," he said quietly and seriously. Ever since he heard the story about how Sirius had almost set Remus on Snape and how his dad came to save Snape, he had thought about his father a lot. He tried to pretend that his father came to save Snape because he was a good guy, but he had this nagging thought that it was only because of Sirius' stupidity and not because Snape was in danger.

"I know you're not," said Sirius calmly. Somehow, he could sense what went on in Harry's head just then.

Snape couldn't help but silently agree. From what he observed of the boy in classes, out of them and especially in this room, he seemed to be more like Lily. Of course that made him snarl quietly to himself. As more and more of Lily emerged from the boy, the less he could hate him.

**The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defence Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.**

**Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like him, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.**

"Thank you so much for your vote of confidence," Ron sulked.

"Any time," Harry smirked.

**Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.**

"Congratulations! I'm so proud of you," Sirius mocked. Remus shook his head and decided to deflate his friend's ego a little bit.

"Really, Sirius. You shouldn't talk – it took _you_ two weeks to find it."

"Shut up, Remus," Sirius murmured amidst the teenagers' giggling.

"**What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.**

"**Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin house. They say he always favours them – we'll be able to see if it's true."**

"**Wish McGonagall favoured us," said Harry. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor house, but it hadn't stopped her giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.**

**Just then, the post arrived. Harry had got used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners and dropping letters and packages on to their laps.**

"I remember, you jumped and spilled your cornflakes all over yourself," Ron tried to get back at his mate for his earlier comment. Harry pinked a bit, but didn't reply.

**Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note on to Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once.**

_**DearHarry,**_**(it said, in a very untidy scrawl)**

_**I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.**_

_**Hagrid**_

"I'm still shocked you can read his handwriting..." Sirius said, shaking his head as if in disbelief.

"Well, after trying to imitate Dudley's chicken scratch, Hagrid's writing is really easy to decipher," Harry tried to defend himself. This made everyone's mood plummet.

**Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled**_**"Yes,please,seeyoulater"**_**on the back of the note and sent Hedwig off again.**

**It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far.**

Both Harry and Snape grimaced at that.

**At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had got the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong.**

Snape's eyebrow rose and fell again with the next sentence.

**Snape didn't dislike Harry – he hated him.**

**Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.**

**Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the register, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.**

"**Ah, yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new – celebrity."**

Sirius was man enough to only roll his eyes at that.

**Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.**

"**You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word – like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.**

"Here it comes," said Harry cheekily, trying to dissolve the tension in the room. Hermione socked him in the arm, but started giggling again anyway.

"**As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."**

"As I said before, you really should've stopped with stoppering death," Tonks reiterated. Snape only huffed in annoyance.

**More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.**

"You saw that," murmured Hermione, embarrassed.

"Of course I did," smirked Harry, earning himself another elbow in the ribs, this time from Hermione.

"Stop maiming me, woman!" he grinned.

"Then stop embarrassing me all the time!" Hermione huffed back.

"I can't help what's written in the book about what I noticed!" Harry argued back.

"You can stop commenting on it, though," Hermione retorted with her arms crossed.

"I'll try, but I can't make any promises," Harry tried to compromise.

"I guess that's the best I'll get out of you," Hermione finally calmed down.

"Besides, you were the one to comment about it just now," Harry got the last word in, making Hermione speechless as she realized that it was, indeed, the truth.

The adults merely observed the two bickering teenagers with amusement. You could see Dumbledore's beard twitching again, and McGonagall's lips were also less thinner as if she was holding back a smile. Remus, Tonks and Sirius on the other hand were all grinning broadly at the display of affection. Ron and Neville could be seen rolling their eyes at the pair and Moody was just staring at the book.

"**Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"**

"Severus," McGonagall suddenly said. "That's sixth year material! You can't expect a first year to know that."

Ron, Harry and Neville smirked a bit at the admonishment Snape received and at the fact that indeed, a first years knew that.

**Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air.**

"Unless it's Miss Granger, of course," McGonagall corrected herself swiftly, making Snape smirk in amusement.

"Really, Minerva," he said silkily. "You really should have expected that one."

Everyone laughed at the glare McGonagall sent at the Potions Master.

"**I don't know, sir," said Harry.**

**Snape's lips curled into a sneer.**

"**Tut, tut – fame clearly isn't everything."**

**He ignored Hermione's hand.**

"**Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"**

"That's material learned at the end of first year, Severus. Were you going easy on the boy, perchance?" Albus teased, knowing that Severus could ask a harder question than this one.

Snape glared at the Headmaster, making Harry realize that it was a silent agreement since he did not deny it loudly.

**Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.**

"**I don't know, sir."**

"**Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"**

**Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. He had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?**

"Silly boy," Snape murmured. "That's the Herbology textbook. No wonder you didn't know the answers, if you were reading the wrong book."

Harry pinked. How was he supposed to know about that before coming to Hogwarts.

"I know that now," he grumbled at the professor, who gave him a smirk. Nasty bastard.

**Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.**

"**What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfs-bane?"**

"Oooh, a trick question," Tonks piped up, grinning at the absurdness of the Potions lesson. She knew that they should feel a bit indignant for Harry's sake, but seeing as Harry himself didn't mind it, so did no one else.

**At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching towards the dungeon ceiling.**

"**I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"**

"Lily's cheek, right there," Sirius smiled.

**A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.**

"**Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"**

"Because you didn't tell us to?" Harry dared to say, earning himself another glare from Snape.

**There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor house for your cheek, Potter."**

"You really were going easy on him," McGonagall commented. Snape stayed quiet – he didn't want to admit that he was taken off guard with the boy's reply – it reminded him of Lily as well – and he couldn't quite bring himself to take more points from the boy. Of course, he corrected the mistake in later classes.

**Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticising almost everyone except Malfoy whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class were standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.**

"**Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand.**

"See, no foolish wand-waving in his classroom," Harry said before anyone else could comment on how Neville was treated. He and Neville had talked about it a few months ago when Ron and Hermione were arguing and they came up with the idea that if Snape wasn't so strict with them, a lot more accidents would happen. Potions were a dangerous subject if treated incorrectly after all.

"And no one got hurt too badly, luckily," Neville added, after catching Harry's eyes and remembering their talk as well.

Sirius, who had just opened his mouth to yell at Snape, fell silent at that.

"**I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"**

**Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.**

"**Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.**

"**You – Potter – why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."**

"Still going easy on him, I see," McGonagall said. She wanted to scold him, of course, but from what Harry and Neville said, she supposed it would be a moot point. They were determined to defend Snape's actions.

**This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.**

"**Don't push it," he muttered. "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."**

"Yes, he can," Harry mumbled as he remembered all of his encounters with Snape.

**As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week – why did Snape hate him so much?**

"**Cheer up," said Ron. "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"**

"Didn't really help," Harry felt the need to inform his best friend.

**At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.**

**When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang – back."**

**Hagrid's big hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.**

"**Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."**

**He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.**

**There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire and in a corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.**

"**Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears.**

"He always pounds on me," Ron complained.

"He likes you the best, after all," Harry laughed.

**Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.**

"**This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes on to a plate.**

"**Another Weasley eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the Forest."**

"That didn't make me feel any better either," Ron said.

**The rock cakes almost broke their teeth,**

"From then on, we never ate them again," Harry said.

**but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.**

"Nice," Sirius laughed.

**Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git".**

"**An' as fer that cat, Mrs Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang some time. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her – Filch puts her up to it."**

Almost everyone laughed at Hagrid's comment on Mrs Norris.

**Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.**

"**But he seemed to really hate me."**

"**Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"**

**Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that.**

"Hagrid is a lousy liar, after all," Harry said with a grin.

"**How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot – great with animals."**

"And he's also lousy with changing the subject," Ron said, grinning as well.

**Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cosy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:**

_**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST**_

_**Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown.**_

_**Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.**_

"_**But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.**_

**Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.**

"**Hagrid!" said Harry. "That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"**

**There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes this time. He grunted and offered him another rock cake.**

"Well, that's Hagrid for you," Hermione added her two knuts into the discussion.

**Harry read the story again. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?**

"Good instincts," Moody suddenly said, startling almost everyone. They had forgotten that he was in the room as well. No wonder, he almost never commented on anything, just listened.

**As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Harry thought that none of the lessons he'd had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?**

"That's the end of the chapter," said McGonagall and without a word pushed the book into Dumbledore's hands.


	11. IX The Midnight Duel

**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**IX - The Midnight Duel**

The sight of Albus Dumbledore obediently taking a book from McGonagall's hands made Harry's mouth twitch. He'd never seen the Headmaster ever do anything that he was told to before. Except let the Dementors into Hogwarts Grounds. And even then he did it so very reluctantly. And leaving Hogwarts in his second year. But that was against his will as well.

**Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley, but that was before he met Draco Malfoy. Still, first-year Gryffindors only had Potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much.**

"You jinxed yourself again there, pup," Sirius chuckled. Harry grumbled a bit, but didn't deny it.

**Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room which made them all groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday – and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.**

"I still don't get why you put Slytherins and Gryffindors together for the most dangerous subjects Hogwarts has to offer. It would be safer for all around if you put them in the more delicate subjects, like History of Magic," said Tonks thoughtfully.

"It is not my decision," McGonagall said, shooting the Headmaster a look.

"**Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."**

**He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.**

"**You don't know you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."**

**Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first-years never getting in the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories which always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters.**

"Does he even know what a helicopter is?" asked a sceptical Hermione.

**He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang-glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about football. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham football team, trying to make the players move.**

By then, Ron was scowling at his laughing friends.

"I was eleven!" he complained.

**Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Harry felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.**

"It's okay, Harry – you were right," Neville quickly said when he saw Harry open his mouth to say he was sorry.

**Hermione Granger**

"Why do you keep calling me by my full name?" asked a curious Hermione.

"I didn't know you that well back then," Harry tried to explain. "And you saw that I also called Seamus and Dean by their full names."

**was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book – not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd got out of a library book called Quidditch through the Ages. Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the post.**

**Harry hadn**'**t had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick** **to notice, of course. Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table.**

**A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the** **size of a** **large marble, which** **seemed to** **be full of white smoke.**

"**It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things – this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh …" His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "… you've forgotten something …"**

"It doesn't really help you remember what you've forgotten," Neville commented.

**Neville was trying to remember** **what he'd** **forgotten** **when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor** **table, snatched the** **Remembrall out of his hand.**

**Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.**

"**What's going on?"**

"**Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."**

**Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.**

"**Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.**

"Yeah, right," Ron grumbled as he remembered their first flying lesson where Malfoy took Neville's Remembrall.

**At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps into the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns towards a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.**

**The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.**

"You really should update the brooms," Sirius said, remembering the old broomsticks they had to fly on. He wondered if they were the same broomsticks that they had to use.

**Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk.**

"That was a rather nice description, as Harry's descriptions go," Remus chuckled, making Harry scowl slightly in his direction.

"**Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."**

**Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.**

"**Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say, 'Up!'"**

"**UP!" everyone shouted.**

**Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once,**

"That's means you're a natural," said an enthusiastic Sirius. Harry had to wonder if Sirius already forgot that he was on the Quidditch team.

**but it was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.**

**Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows, correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.**

"We still are!" Ron grinned, just at the remembrance of it.

"**Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few** **feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle – three** –**two –"**

**But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's** **lips.**

"**Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle – twelve feet – twenty** **feet. Harry saw his** **scared white face look down at the ground falling** **away, saw** **him gasp,** **slip sideways off the broom and –**

**WHAM – a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay, face down, on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher and started to drift lazily towards the Forbidden Forest** **and out of sight.**

**Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.**

"**Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy – it's all right, up you get."**

**She turned to the rest of the class.**

"**None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. Come on, dear."**

**Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.**

**No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.**

"I probably shouldn't be surprised by that," Tonks murmured, while Snape glared at the book. Draco had, once again, told him a whole different story about what happened. He made it sound like Harry tried to show off about his flying skills and had complained loudly about him getting special treatment about becoming a Seeker in his first year. And why couldn't he, Draco, play Quidditch in his first year, and how his father would hear about it. Snape groaned to himself at just the thought of how spoiled Draco sounded just then.

"**Did you see his face, the great lump?"**

**The other Slytherins joined in.**

"**Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.**

"**Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry-babies, Parvati."**

"Why was she calling her by her first name?" asked a curious Hermione.

"Most of the pure-bloods know each other from tea parties or having their children play together," Sirius explained.

"**Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."**

**The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.**

"**Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.**

**Malfoy smiled nastily.**

"**I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect – how about – up a tree?"**

"That git," Tonks frowned.

"**Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt on to his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well – hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"**

**Harry grabbed his broom.**

"**No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move – you'll get us all into trouble."**

**Harry ignored her.**

"Nothing new here," Ron chuckled and dodged Hermione's arm just as she was about to smack him on his head.

**Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared, air rushed through his hair and his robes whipped out behind him – and in a rush of fierce joy he realised he'd found something he could do without being taught – this was easy, this was wonderful. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.**

**He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in mid-air. Malfoy looked stunned.**

"Of course he did," chortled Tonks, "he never expected a muggle-raised wizard who had never been on a broomstick before to fly that well."

"**Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"**

"**Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried.**

**Harry knew, somehow, what to do. He leant forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands and it** **shot towards Malfoy** **like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp** **about turn and held** **the broom** **steady. A** **few people below were clapping.**

"**No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.**

**The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.**

"**Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back towards the ground.**

"So, we actually have to thank Malfoy for you becoming a Seeker," Sirius said with a mischievous grin.

"Yep," Harry replied, laughing slightly at the look on Snape's face.

**Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leant forward and pointed his broom handle down – next second he was** **gathering** **speed in a steep dive, racing** **the ball **– **wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching – he stretched out his hand – a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently on to the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.**

"**HARRY POTTER!"**

**His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running towards them. He got to his feet, trembling.**

"**Never – in all my time at Hogwarts –"**

"Minnie, I'm hurt – you forgot all about me and James!" Sirius mock-sobbed into his hands. Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes and huffed,

"I tried to. Never quite worked."

"Look there, my heart's bleeding," Sirius complained and pointed at his heart. Harry rolled his eyes at the antics, but was secretly quite glad that his godfather was joking around.

**Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "– how dare you – might have broken your neck –"**

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen McGonagall have problems with scolding people before," Remus said thoughtfully.

"Me neither," added Tonks cheerfully.

"I have to admit, I haven't either," Dumbledore commented as well. McGonagall scowled at him in return.

"**It wasn't his fault, Professor –"**

"**Be quiet, Miss Patil –"**

"**But Malfoy –"**

"**That's enough, Mr Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."**

**Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode towards the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it.**

"Again with your pessimism, Harry," Hermione shook her head.

**He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up. Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks. He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep?**

"No, really – you should stop it with the pessimism," Ron added to a pink-faced Harry.

**Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore. He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant. His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others becoming wizards while he stumped around the grounds, carrying Hagrid's bag.**

"You know-" Sirius started to say, but was interrupted by a pillow landing on his nose, courtesy of Harry.

"Would you all stop commenting on my pessimistic personality already!" Harry complained.

"Nope, not a chance," Tonks teased him.

**Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.**

"**Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?"**

**Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him?**

"Mr Potter," said an exasperated McGonagall. "Physical punishment was banned from Hogwarts since the early 15th century!"

"Yeah, Harry, didn't you know that?" Ron kept up the commentary.

"Shut up," Harry mumbled. It seemed that in this chapter, they were all going to tease him this time.

**But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused.**

"**Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry.**

"**In here."**

**Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom which was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on** **the blackboard.**

"**Out, Peeves!" she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys.**

"**Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood – I've found you a Seeker."**

**Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.**

"**Are you serious, Professor?"**

"**Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"**

**Harry** **nodded silently. He** **didn't have a clue what was going on,**

"Nothing new there then," Neville chuckled.

"Et tu, Neville?" asked Harry with a betrayed expression, which made Hermione start to giggle. Some of the people in the room wore confused expressions, which made Remus explain, "It's a famous quote from a muggle poet and playwright William Shakespeare."

**but he didn**'**t seem to** **be being expelled, and some of the feeling started** **coming back to his legs.**

"**He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood. "Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it."**

"You were boasting just a bit there, weren't you Minnie," Sirius said. McGonagall remained quiet.

**Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.**

"**Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.**

"**Wood's captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.**

"**He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light – speedy – we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor – a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."**

"**I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks …"**

Severus smirked at that, which made McGonagall scowl at him again.

**Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.**

"**I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you."**

**Then she suddenly smiled.**

"**Your father would have been proud," she said. "He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."**

"**You're joking."**

"No she isn't!" Sirius complained, but fell silent when Dumbledore started chortling.

"It's an entirely different conversation, Sirius," the old man said.

"Oh," mumbled Sirius and let Dumbledore continue reading – to the amusement of everyone in the room.

**It was dinner time. Harry had just finished telling Ron what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak-and-kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.**

"You usually do," Hermione said, disgusted - as always - by Ron's table manners.

"**Seeker?" he said. "But first-years never – you must be the youngest house player in about –"**

"– **a century" said Harry, shovelling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me."**

**Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry.**

"I didn't like it very much though," Harry told him.

"Sorry," Ron said, scratching his neck in embarrassment.

"**I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."**

**Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry and hurried over.**

"**Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too – Beaters."**

"**I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch Cup for sure this year," said Fred "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to** **be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."**

Harry snorted. It actually wasn't that hard to imagine Oliver Wood skipping. Not after three years of knowing the guy who was obsessed with Quidditch.

"**Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."**

"**Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."**

"Those twins are so cool," Sirius said.

"We only found it in our second month," Remus had to agree, though a bit reluctantly. The professors in the room just shook their heads at the two Marauders.

"I only found it in my third year," Tonks sighed disappointedly.

**Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less** **welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.**

"**Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"**

"**You're a lot braver now you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at** **all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.**

"**I'd take you on any time on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"**

"**Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling round. "I'm his second, who's yours?"**

**Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.**

"**Crabbe," he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."**

"He didn't show up, did he?" Sirius said smartly. Harry and his friends stayed silent. They had almost forgotten about the duel – meeting Fluffy had thoroughly erased it from their minds.

**When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other.**

"**What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"**

"**Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually,**

"You really made me feel better there," Harry chuckled.

**getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly, "but people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."**

"**And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"**

"**Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.**

"Good idea, he probably has no idea how to fight like a muggle," Sirius grinned enthusiastically. He wished he could have seen the duel.

"**Excuse me."**

**They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.**

"**Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.**

**Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry.**

"**I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying –"**

"**Bet you could," Ron muttered.**

"– **and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."**

"**And it's really none of your business," said Harry.**

"**Goodbye," said Ron.**

"How did the three of you become friends again?" Sirius had to ask. From what they've read so far, the three of them didn't really get along all that well.

"You'll see," said Harry with a mischievous grin. Though, the way they became friends wasn't exactly funny, now that he thought about it.

**All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital wing). Ron had spent all evening giving him advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how** **to block them".**

"That was actually good advice," said Tonks impishly.

"Hey! I can give good advice," Ron complained.

**There was a very good chance they** **were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today. On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming** **up out of** **the darkness – this** **was his big chance to beat Malfoy, face** **to face. He** **couldn't miss it.**

"**Half past eleven," Ron muttered at last. "We'd better go."**

**They pulled on their** **dressing-gowns, picked up their wands and crept across the tower room, down the** **spiral staircase and into the** **Gryffindor common room. A few** **embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs** **into hunched black shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole** **when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them: "I can't believe you're going to do this,** **Harry."**

**A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger, wearing a pink** **dressing-gown and a frown.**

"**You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!"**

"She won't listen to you," Sirius said smugly.

"She never does," Ron commiserated.

"**I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped. "Percy – he's a Prefect, he'd put a stop to this."**

**Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.**

"I'm hurt, Harry," Hermione pouted.

"Well, you can be a bit bossy, you know," was the only answer she got.

"**Come on," he said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.**

**Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.**

"I was not hissing like a goose," Hermione sniffed.

"**Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."**

"That's fourth year material, that is," Tonks said, impressed with the young girl's knowledge.

"**Go away."**

"**All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so –"**

**But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a night-time visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor Tower.**

"**Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.**

"**That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."**

**They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.**

"**I'm coming with you," she said.**

"**You are not."**

"**D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you and you can back me up."**

"Harry would have done it," Ron said with a grin. "He's always such a gentleman."

"Unlike you," Hermione added under her breath – but everyone heard her anyway. Neville and Harry started laughing at the red-faced Ron, while the adults chuckled to themselves.

_Ah, young love_, thought Dumbledore to himself.

"**You've got some nerve –" said Ron loudly.**

"**Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply.**

"He always knows how to stop their bickering," Neville said proudly.

"**I heard something."**

**It was a sort of snuffling.**

"**Mrs Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.**

**It wasn't Mrs Norris. It was Neville.**

"Why were you out in the corridor?" asked a concerned Tonks.

"You'll find out in a moment," Neville said simply.

**He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.**

"**Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours. I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."**

"I always forget the passwords," Neville groaned. McGonagall felt just a bit regretful for the way she treated the poor boy during the year that just passed.

"**Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."**

"**How's your arm?" said Harry.**

"Always so nice to everyone, aren't you Harry," Sirius smirked.

"I'm not Dudley," was Harry's only response.

"**Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."**

"**Good – well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later**–"

"**Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet. "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."**

**Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.**

"**If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learnt that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about and used it on you."**

"Bill taught Ginny how to use the curse when we were in Egypt," Ron said.

**Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies,**

"How did you know," said an embarrassed Hermione.

**but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned** **them all forward.**

**They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs Norris, but they were lucky.**

"I think you jinxed yourself there again," Remus said with a small smile. He had no idea how right he was.

**They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed towards the trophy room.**

**Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.**

"**He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.**

"Or maybe he's not coming at all," Tonks murmured.

**Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand**

"Good reflexes," Moody said to everyone's surprise.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" made almost everyone jump.

**when they heard someone speak – and it wasn't Malfoy.**

"**Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."**

"Argh," Sirius let out as he pulled his fingers through his long hair. "It just had to be Filch."

**It was Filch speaking to Mrs Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently towards the door away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.**

"**They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."**

"**This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run – he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour.**

**The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.**

"I didn't hear anything," the Headmaster said cheerfully.

"**RUN!" Harry yelled and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following – they swung around the doorpost and galloped**

"We're not horses, Harry," Ron said to lift up the tension in the room.

**down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead without any idea where they were or where they were going. They ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.**

"Wait a moment," said Sirius slowly. "If you're in the Charms corridor, that means you're-"

"On the third floor," Tonks finished for him, going pale. She remembered the warning the Headmaster gave at the beginning of the term.

"**I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.**

"**I – told – you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest. "I – told – you."**

"I don't think now's the time to tell them, Hermione," Tonks said nervously.

"**We've got to get back to Gryffindor Tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."**

"**Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realise that, don't you? He was never going to meet you – Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him** **off."**

**Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn't going to tell her that.**

"Well, now I know," Hermione grinned, looking pleased with herself.

"**Let's go."**

**It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when** **a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.**

**It was Peeves. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.**

"**Shut up, Peeves – please – you'll get us thrown out."**

**Peeves cackled.**

"**Wandering around at midnight, ickle firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."**

"**Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."**

"**Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."**

"**Get out of the way," snapped Ron,**

"You shouldn't have done that," Sirius groaned.

"I know that now," Ron replied, pinking a bit around his ears.

**taking a swipe at Peeves – this was a big mistake.**

"**STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"**

**Ducking under Peeves they ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor, where they slammed into a door – and it was locked.**

"Oh no," Tonks moaned again. Even Sirius got worried then – they were on the forbidden corridor after all. Remus was a bit nervous as well – although he already knew the basics of what went on (he heard if from the other professors), but he was curious about the details as well.

"**This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door. "We're done for! This is the end!"**

**They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves's shouts.**

"**Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock and whispered, "Alohomora!"**

"Atta girl, Hermione!" Sirius cheered, making Hermione blush.

**The lock clicked and the door swung open – they piled through it, shut it quickly and pressed their ears against it, listening.**

"**Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."**

"**Say 'please'."**

"He won't tell," said Sirius smiling.

"**Don't mess me about, Peeves, now where did they go?"**

"**Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying sing-song voice.**

"**All right – please."**

"**NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.**

"Filch should have expected that one," Sirius laughed.

"**He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be OK – get off, Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's dressing-gown for the last minute. "What?"**

**Harry turned around – and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare – this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far.**

**They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.**

**They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog which filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.**

"A Cerberus?" whispered a pale Tonks. "You put a bloody Cerberus in a school full of children?"

While Remus already knew about the three-headed dog, he completely forgot about that fact. Suddenly, he felt quite angry at the Headmaster for allowing that.

"Are you crazy?" Tonks shouted at the professors around them – taking the words right out of his mouth.

"If you had to protect something, why couldn't you just put it under a Fidelius Charm and be done with it?" the girl next to him angrily said, making him wonder why, indeed, the professors didn't think of that and instead made obstacles that three first years could solve.

"A Fidelius Charm can be broken," Dumbledore said quietly, making Harry remember just how it could be broken. He was the living example of it, after all. Tonks quieted down after that, clearly remembering the same thing.

**It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead** **was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was** **quickly getting over that, there was no** **mistaking** **what those thunderous growls meant.**

**Harry groped for the doorknob – between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.**

"The best idea you had all night," Sirius mumbled.

**They fell backwards – Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried** **off to look for them somewhere else because they didn't see** **him anywhere, but they hardly** **cared – all they wanted to do** **was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They** **didn't stop running** **until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.**

"**Where on earth have you all been?" she asked,**

"She still asks the question, even though she never gets an answer?" Sirius joked.

**looking at their dressing-gowns hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.**

"**Never mind that – pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling into armchairs.**

**It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.**

"I spoke the next day," Neville quickly reassured them.

"**What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."**

"Good observation, Ron, really," Tonks said, still a bit angry.

"Yeah, the best," Sirius added.

**Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again.**

"**You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"**

"Where were you looking then?" Sirius asked. He couldn't imagine himself looking anywhere but its heads. There were three!

"**The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."**

"**No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."**

**She stood up, glaring at them.**

"**I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."**

"You really need to sort out your priorities," Tonks said.

"Don't worry, I did," Hermione said, blushing a bit.

**Ron stared after her, his mouth open.**

"**No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?"**

**But Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed back into bed. The dog was guarding something … What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide – except perhaps Hogwarts.**

**It looked as though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.**

"You really notice a lot, don't you?" Tonks said with a smile as the Headmaster offered the book to Moody.


	12. X Hallowe'en

Disclaimer:Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**X – Hallowe'en**

"It's not like I can help it," Harry mumbled in reply to Tonks comment as Moody started to read the book without complaints.

**Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts next day, looking tired but perfectly cheerful.**

"That makes it obvious that he was the one to tip Filch off," Tonks growled at the mention of her cousin.

**Indeed, by next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure and they were quite keen to have another one.**

"Boys," Hermione huffed at the memory.

**In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.**

"**It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.**

"**Or both," said Harry.**

**But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.**

**Neither Neville or Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.**

**Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus.**

Hermione's face fell a little at that, and Ron hurried to reassure her (for once), "You might be a know-it-all, but you're m- our know-it-all."

No one missed the fact that he almost said "my". Hermione pinked at that and felt herself calm down.

**All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived with the post about a week later.**

**As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long thin package carried by six large screech owls. Harry was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.**

**Harry ripped open the letter first, which was lucky, because it said:**

_**DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.**_

"You know professor – everyone knew it was a broomstick by the shape of the package. It was kind of a moot point for you to tell him not to open it at the table," Tonks said cheekily. McGonagall only sighed in response.

_**It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session.**_

_**Professor M. McGonagall**_

**Harry had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Ron to read.**

"**A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."**

**They left the Hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first lesson, but halfway across the Entrance Hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.**

"Of course he would do that," Sirius sighed in unison with Tonks.

"**That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them."**

**Ron couldn't resist it.**

"**It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."**

"**What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig."**

"That was low," Tonks growled. Remus was surprised by feeling a shudder go through his spine at the growl. He shook his head, ignoring Sirius' glance.

**Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.**

"**Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.**

"**Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.**

"Tattle-tale," Sirius said to no one in particular.

"**Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"**

"You should have seen Malfoy's face when professor Flitwick said that," Ron chortled.

"**A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added.**

"Yeah, Harry – kick him where it hurts!" Sirius yelled enthusiastically.

"How old are you again?" Harry asked him cheekily.

**Harry and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.**

"I wouldn't have smothered it," Sirius commented again – however no one was surprised at it.

"**Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be in the team …"**

"**So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand.**

"**I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.**

"**Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good."**

**Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.**

"That was a lousy way of trying to make friends, you know Hermione," Harry couldn't help but tease her. Hermione socked him in the arm, blushing.

"I know, but I never had a friend before so I didn't know how to," she defended herself.

"And look, all it took was a mountain troll," Ron added his two knuts to the conversation.

Sirius started to dread reading about it.

**Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory, where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch pitch where he'd be learning to play that night. He bolted his dinner that evening without noticing what he was eating and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last.**

"**Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled on to Harry's bedspread.**

**Even Harry, who knew nothing about the different brooms,**

"The tragedy!" Sirius mock-moaned.

**thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.**

Harry felt a bit sad as he remembered how his faithful Nimbus ended up.

**As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and set off towards the Quidditch pitch in the dusk. He'd never been inside the stadium before.**

**Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Harry of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high.**

"I thought of that too!" Hermione said with a smile, happy that she had something else in common with Harry.

**Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling – he swooped in and out of the goalposts and then sped up and down the pitch. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch.**

"**Hey, Potter, come down!"**

**Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him.**

"**Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting.**

"Back away slowly when you see his eyes glinting," Harry couldn't help but say. Every time Oliver's eyes glinted in the past, his body hurt a lot after he was done flying. McGonagall couldn't help but silently agree with him.

"**I see what McGonagall meant … you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."**

**He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.**

"**Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."**

"**Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a football.**

"James was a Chaser," Sirius piped up.

"**This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"**

"**The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So – that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"**

"**What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.**

"**Never mind," said Harry quickly.**

"**Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper – I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."**

"**Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. OK, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box.**

"**I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."**

**He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a rounders bat.**

"**I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."**

**He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.**

"**Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.**

**At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it breaking his nose and sent it zig-zagging away into the air**

"Nice! You would make a fair Beater," Tonks said enthusiastically. She loved Quidditch, even though she couldn't fly so well.

– **it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.**

"**See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team. The Weasley twins are ours – it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them towards the other team. So – think you've got all that?"**

"**Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goalposts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off.**

"**Very good," said Wood.**

"**Er – have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand.**

"You probably didn't," Hermione teased.

"**Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers –"**

"– **unless they crack my head open."**

"**Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers – I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."**

"We probably shouldn't tell them about that," Ron murmured, already imagining what his brothers would do.

**Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.**

"**This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages – I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep.**

"**Well, that's it – any questions?"**

**Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.**

"Not really, mate," Ron said, shaking his head.

"**We won't practise with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate. "It's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."**

**He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket, and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.**

**Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.**

"**That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year,"**

"Sorry, Oliver," Harry sighed, knowing that he was unconscious at the time of the game.

**said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."**

**Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realised that he'd already been at Hogwarts two months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive had ever done. His lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.**

**On Hallowe'en morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practise. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye).**

"Sorry, Neville," Harry apologized to his friend. Neville just waved his apology away, knowing that almost everyone in the Gryffindor tower tried to avoid being his partner in practical classes. It often happened that he blew the spell and his partners would end up having one or two extra appendages.

**Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.**

"**Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!"**

**squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."**

"Sirius tried that once," Remus said with a smirk towards his friend.

**It was very difficult. Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skywards just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it**

"He usually sets stuff on fire when his spell goes haywire," Ron chuckled. Harry grinned at the mention of his pyromaniac friend.

"He still hasn't managed to turn water into rum," he sighed exasperatedly. How many times has she witnessed the small explosions from the Gryffindor table when Seamus Finnigan tried to do that. How many times were his eyebrows burnt off and how many times had they regrown...

– **Harry had to put it out with his hat.**

**Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck.**

"**Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.**

"I don't think that's going to work," Tonks said with a shake of her head. Ron pinked.

"**You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."**

"That's not going to end well, I can feel it in the air, I can feel it in the water," Sirius sing-sang.

"Shut up," Ron mumbled.

"**You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.**

"You shouldn't have said that," Remus said hoarsely.

**Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"**

**Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.**

"**Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"**

**Ron was in a very bad temper by the end of the class.**

"**It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. "She's a nightmare, honestly."**

"You really shouldn't have said that either," Tonks said, frowning a bit at Ron.

"I know! I already apologized!" Ron snapped, feeling embarrassed.

**Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione.**

**Harry caught a glimpse of her face – and was startled to see that she was in tears.**

"**I think she heard you."**

"**So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."**

"I heard that too," Hermione said sadly. Ron immediately felt even worse than before.

**Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Hallowe'en feast, Harry and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' toilets and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Hallowe'en decorations put Hermione out of their minds.**

"Boys," said an exasperated Hermione.

**A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.**

**Harry was just helping himself to a jacket potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, his turban askew and terror on his face.**

**Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table and gasped, "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."**

**He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.**

"*cough*Faker!*cough*!" Harry said.

**There was uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.**

"**Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!"**

"Really, Dumbledore," Tonks said with a frown on her face. "The Hufflepuff and Slytherin dormitories are in the dungeons!"

"The Prefects led them to the library instead," Hermione piped in. "I heard about it from Susan."

**Percy was in his element.**

"Of course he was," Ron grumbled.

"**Follow me! Stick together, first-years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"**

"**How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.**

"**Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Hallowe'en joke."**

"Peeves wouldn't do something like that," Dumbledore said calmly.

**They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.**

"**I've just thought – Hermione."**

"You're going to go after her, aren't you," Tonks said, worriedly. The two teenagers didn't answer her, but instead hugged Hermione from both sides.

"**What about her?"**

"**She doesn't know about the troll."**

**Ron bit his lip.**

"**Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."**

**Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.**

"**Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin.**

**Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.**

Snape knew he shouldn't be surprised by the boy noticing him anymore, but he couldn't help it.

"**What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"**

"**Search me."**

**Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.**

"**He's heading for the third floor," Harry said, but Ron held up his hand.**

"**Can you smell something?"**

**Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.**

"Uh-oh, the troll," Tonks whispered and grabbed Remus' hand without being aware of it. Remus jumped a bit when his hand was grabbed and looked at Tonks who was looking at Moody as he read the book.

**And then they heard it – a low grunting and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed: at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.**

**It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.**

**The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.**

"**The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."**

"**Good idea," said Ron nervously.**

**They edged towards the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door and lock it.**

"**Yes!"**

"You locked me in, didn't you," Hermione said to Harry as she remembered them suddenly slamming the doors of the girl's toilets.

"Sorry about that," Harry said, scratching his head. McGonagall and Snape leaned closer – they were about to find out what _really _happened that night – not that lie Hermione had told them.

**Flushed with their victory they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop – a high, petrified scream – and it was coming from the chamber they'd just locked up.**

"**Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.**

"**It's the girls' toilets!" Harry gasped.**

"**Hermione!" they said together.**

**It was the last thing they wanted to do, but what choice did they have? Wheeling around they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic – Harry pulled the door open – they ran inside.**

**Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.**

"You'll see Harry thinking on his feet now, instead of bumbling along with a plan," Hermione said, trying to lift the tension in the room that suddenly grew. Sirius threw her a quick grin, but became serious once again from worry. He knew that Harry and his friends were all right, but he still couldn't stop himself from worrying.

"**Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and seizing a tap he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.**

"Good plan," Moody said and continued reading.

**The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.**

"**Oy pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout towards Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.**

"**Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.**

"She always freezes in the face of danger," Harry said, giving Hermione a cheeky grin and a friendly nudge on her shoulder.

"I don't freeze as much anymore, I think," Hermione said.

"You don't," Ron agreed.

The adults had to wonder just how many dangerous adventures the kids had – they only knew the basics of their most famous adventures after all.

**The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started towards Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.**

**Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid:**

"He usually does that," Hermione said, smiling at Harry as he pinked.

"Someone has to," he answered matter-of-factly.

**he took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped – it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.**

"Eww, that poor wand," Tonks said, feeling sympathy for Harry who had taken his wand out of his breast pocket and started rubbing it vigorously as if trying to get rid of the imaginary troll bogies.

**Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.**

**Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand – not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"**

**The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over – and dropped, with a sickening crack, on to its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.**

"Well," said Remus, feeling just a little bit faint (but don't tell that to anyone), "that's one way of defeating a mountain troll."

**Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.**

**It was Hermione who spoke first.**

"**Is it – dead?"**

"**I don't think so," said Harry. "I think it's just been knocked out."**

"And he said it so calmly, as if it was an everyday occurrence for him," Hermione chuckled a bit as she watched most of the room release the breaths they were holding.

"That's Harry for you," said Neville who was still a little short of breath.

**He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.**

"**Urgh – troll bogies."**

"And that's what he's disgusted about," Ron chuckled.

"You would be too, if you had your wand shoved up that troll's nose," Harry retorted.

"No, mine would have probably snapped in two," Ron laughed.

**He wiped it on the troll's trousers.**

"You could pay me all the Galleons in the world and I still wouldn't have wiped it on my cloak," Harry said.

**A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realised what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.**

**Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind.**

"That's what you were thinking about?" Hermione asked an embarrassed Harry.

"**What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air.**

"You looked like the statue of Liberty with it," Hermione said.

"The statue of what?" Ron asked, having never heard of a statue like that.

"It's a statue on Liberty Island in New York," Hermione explained. "It's of a robed female figure representing the Roman goddess of freedom, Libertas, who bears a torch and a tablet evoking the law. It's an icon of freedom and of the United States."

Moody started reading again, not wanting to listen to the girl's long-winded explanation.

"**You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"**

**Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor. He wished Ron would put his wand down.**

**Then a small voice came out of the shadows.**

"**Please, Professor McGonagall – they were looking for me."**

"**Miss Granger!"**

**Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.**

"**I went looking for the troll because I – I thought I could deal with it on my own – you know, because I've read all about them."**

"Hermione Granger, lying to a teacher. I should write this down in my diary – it's a memorable occurrence which doesn't happen often enough," Sirius said, miming writing something on his hand.

Hermione send him a scowl, but he ignored her.

**Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?**

"Yeah, who would have thought," Sirius laughed.

"**If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."**

**Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them.**

"And here I thought you were feeling a bit constipated," McGonagall couldn't help but tease the two boys a bit. Snape had to agree with the Transfiguration professor – the two boys really failed in looking the way they tried to.

"**Well – in that case …" said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"**

**Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.**

The Snape in the room glared at the black-haired teenager.

"**Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."**

**Hermione left.**

**Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron.**

"**Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points.**

"Only five? I would have awarded them at least fifty and gave them an award for Special Services to the school! They did get rid of a mountain troll that was threatening it after all," Sirius started complaining.

"They directly disobeyed the Headmaster's order for them to go back to their dormitories," McGonagall said sternly.

"If they hadn't, Hermione would have died. No one thought that the troll would go there, they thought it was in the dungeons. The professors wouldn't have made it to the bathroom on time," Sirius kept up his ranting.

McGonagall kept quiet. When he put it that way...

**Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."**

**They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.**

"**We should have got more than ten points," Ron grumbled.**

"**Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."**

"**Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her."**

"It was kind of your fault that she needed saving, you know," Tonks told the aforementioned boy.

"I know," Ron said.

"**She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.**

**They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.**

"**Pig snout," they said and entered.**

**The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks", and hurried off to get plates.**

**But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.**

Moody closed the book and put it on the table as he finished reading the chapter. Everyone stayed quiet for a little while, and then they were interrupted by the table filling itself with food. No one (except perhaps Ron) had noticed that it was already time for lunch.

"We should be able to finish the book before dinner if we read it like we did now," Sirius said, stuffing his mouth full of Shepherd's pie while Ron was drowning himself in onion soup.

"I'm reading it next," Ron said once he gulped down the spoonful of the soup.

"And then it's my turn again," Harry realized. "We'll make a full circle then."

"We should keep reading it in the order we did now," Tonks agreed and with that the room became quite once more as they attacked their lunch.


	13. XI Quidditch

**Disclaimer: **Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**XI – Quidditch**

"YES! I got the best chapter!" Ron yelled as soon as he read the chapter title out loud. Every Quidditch fan in the room cheered, while Hermione wondered how she'll survive this chapter with her hearing intact – she was seated right next to two of the loudest Quidditch fanatics. Though Sirius could give Ron a run for his money with his bellowing. Poor Lupin, she thought to herself as she saw the professor move away from the black-haired man a bit. His ears must be sensitive, with him being a werewolf.

**As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows, defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit-fur gloves and enormous beaverskin boots.**

**The Quidditch season had begun.**

The Quidditch fanatics let out another roar, making Hermione's ears hurt. She could see Snape roll his eyes and Moody's lip stiffen a bit. Seems she wasn't the only sane person in the room.

**On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship.**

**Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret.**

"There's nothing that stays secret in Hogwarts," Sirius said cheerfully. Harry couldn't help but agree – seeing as his father's secret got out after twenty years and the whole Chamber of Secrets thing was also thought to be a legend of Hogwarts and Harry found it. He was quite proud of himself – now that the danger was over. Sometimes he still lay awake at night wondering just why Salazar Slytherin put the entrance to the Chamber in a girl's toilet. It made him think that perhaps that wasn't the only entrance to it, but he couldn't find the time or the will to go check it out. The chamber was probably sealed already anyway.

**But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow,**

"See, I told you so," Sirius grinned.

"No one disagreed," Remus shot his friend down.

**and Harry didn't know which was worse – people telling him he'd be brilliant or people telling him they'd be running around underneath him, holding a mattress.**

**It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend. He didn't know how he'd have got through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She had also lent him **_**Quidditch through the Ages**_**, which turned out to be a very interesting read.**

"I thought you said I bored you all stupid when I read it to you," Hermione said teasingly.

"Your voice was boring, not the book's content," Harry replied with a smirk, which earned him a nudge in his ribs, courtesy of Hermione.

"Okay, shutting up now," he laughed as he took a look at Hermione's pink cheeks.

**Harry learnt that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473;**

"How I wish I could have seen that match," Sirius said dreamingly and Harry could see that he was already imagining it. He shook his head at his godfather's antics – though the thought of watching that particular Quidditch match was almost drool-worthy. At least that's what Ron would say. Taking a small glance at his red-headed friend, he could see the same expression on his face as Sirius had. That made him chuckle to himself.

**that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.**

**Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll and she was much nicer for it.**

"Looks like we've been a bad influence on her, Harry," Ron said with a grin. McGonagall couldn't stop the groan.

"And here we hoped that she would be a good influence on you," she said with her eyes closed. Harry and Ron grinned. She was a good influence, but they wouldn't tell her that. Professor McGonagall namely, Hermione already k new it. It was a "best friends forever" thing.

**The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire**"Wow, Hermione!" Tonks said impressed. "You already knew how to cast the blue-bell spell in your first year!"

Snape suddenly had a bad feeling about the spell.

**which could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping.**

"Of course you did," Severus mumbled. Harry just grinned cheekily at him.

**Harry, Ron and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.**

"**What's that you've got there, Potter?"**

**It was **_**Quidditch through the Ages**_**. Harry showed him.**

"**Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."**

"**He's just made that rule up,"**

"Actually he didn't. Madam Pince almost gave me a flogging once because I took one of her precious library books outside to read," Remus corrected them with his hoarse voice.

**Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away. "Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"**

"**Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.**

"Mr Weasley, that was uncalled for," McGonagall scolded the young boy. Ron blushed an embarrassed red and looked at his fingers.

**The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking Harry and Ron's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy ('How will you learn?'), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.**

"We tried that with Remus once," Sirius said and went quiet again to everyone's surprise. Harry had a suspicious feeling that there was more involved.

"What happened?" asked a curious Hermione. Sirius grimaced a bit at the girl, while Lupin smirked.

"We had to pay him one chocolate frog for every piece of homework," he said.

"That had to be a lot of chocolate frogs then," Harry teased.

"Yeah," was the only thing Sirius replied with. "He's a chocoholic, Remus is."

Harry smiled as he remembered Lupin having a huge chocolate bar in his pocket on the train ride to Hogwarts. He had wondered...

Tonks grinned at an embarrassed Remus and made a mental note about it. For later.

**Harry felt restless. He wanted **_**Quidditch through the Ages**_** back, to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow. Why should he be afraid of Snape?**

"Yeah, Harry – don't be afraid of that old git," Sirius laughed. Snape was about to reply in a scathing manner when he realized that there was no malice in what the mutt said. That shut him up.

"I am not old," he said instead.

"Of course you're not," Sirius replied with a smirk.

**Getting up, he told Ron and Hermione he was going to ask Snape if he could have it.**

"**Rather you than me," they said together, but Harry had an idea that Snape wouldn't refuse if there were other teachers listening.**

"Yes, if there were other teachers listening, he would have given you the book back," McGonagall said, giving Snape a piercing look. Snape looked away as he remembered what actually happened.

**He made his way down to the staff room and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. Nothing.**

**Perhaps Snape had left the book in there? It was worth a try. He pushed the door ajar and peered inside – and a horrible scene met his eyes.**

**Snape and Filch were inside, alone.**

"Quickly, Remus, cover the youngsters ears," Sirius yelled as he covered his own ears.

"Really, Harry, that just sounds so inappropriate," Hermione said as Harry tried to make himself as small as possible, even going as far as hiding himself behind Ron. Just to escape Snape's glare.

**Snape was holding his robes above his knees.**

"Mr Potter," McGonagall tried to say sternly, but was overcome with a small fit of giggles.

**One of his legs was bloody and mangled.**

"Oh, so that's what was going on. I was beginning to wonder," Tonks said with a grin, ignoring the death glare she was receiving from Snape.

**Filch was handing Snape bandages.**

"**Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"**

"Only if you yourself have three heads at once," Sirius said, trying to sound smart. He failed miserably.

**Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but –**

"**POTTER!"**

**Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg.**

**Harry gulped.**

"**I just wondered if I could have my book back."**

"You have some guts, kid," Tonks said, impressed.

"**GET OUT! **_**OUT!**_**"**

**Harry left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. He sprinted back upstairs.**

"**Did you get it?" Ron asked as Harry joined them. "What's the matter?"**

**In a low whisper, Harry told them what he'd seen.**

"There are no secrets between us, right Hermione?" Harry said with a grin, gently nudging Hermione's shoulder. Hermione smiled embarrassedly, remembering the secret she kept all this year.

"**You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Hallowe'en!**

"I did not," Snape felt the need to explain himself.

**That's where he was going when we saw him – he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick **_**he**_** let that troll in, to create a diversion!"**

"You really shouldn't bet on things like that any more, Harry," Ron said. "I'll really take you up on it if you do."

Harry rolled his eyes.

**Hermione's eyes were wide.**

"**No – he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."**

"**Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snapped Ron. "I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"**

**Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville was snoring loudly, but Harry couldn't sleep. He tried to empty his mind**

"So you were trying to Occlude your mind without knowing what Occlumency was," Snape said with a smirk.

"Didn't work," Harry replied.

**- he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours – but the expression on Snape's face when Harry had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget.**

"Oh look professor," Tonks teased, "you're giving him nightmares!"

Sirius snorted.

**The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.**

The Quidditch fanatics in the room (Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, Harry, Ron, professor McGonagall, Neville and even Headmaster Dumbledore) all let out a loud cheer.

"**You've got to eat some breakfast."**

"**I don't want anything."**

"**Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.**

"**I'm not hungry."**

**Harry felt terrible. In an hour's time he'd be walking on to the pitch.**

"**Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team."**

"Seamus really needs to work on his comforting," Ron said, chuckling.

"**Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.**

"They're surprisingly delicious," commented Dumbledore to everyone's surprise. He was being awfully quite during this chapter.

**By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.**

**Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus and Dean the West Ham fan**

"Dean the West Ham fan has a nice ring to it," Neville laughed.

**up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said **_**Potter for President**_** and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colours.**

"You know, I really shouldn't be surprised by your spell repertoire any more," Tonks said with a grin towards the younger girl.

**Meanwhile, in the changing rooms, Harry and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green).**

**Wood cleared his throat for silence.**

"**OK, men," he said.**

"**And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.**

"**And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."**

"**The big one," said Fred Weasley.**

"**The one we've all been waiting for," said George.**

"**We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harry. "We were in the team last year."**

"Those two," McGonagall said while shaking her head.

"**Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."**

**He glared at them all as if to say, "Or else."**

"I remember in second year with that rogue Bludger," Harry grinned.

"Yeah, didn't it go something like 'catch the snitch or die trying'?" Ron laughed. McGonagall felt appalled by Wood's almost crazy obsession with Quidditch. Even she wasn't that obsessed. Was she?

"What rogue Bludger?" asked a concerned Sirius.

"You'll see," Harry replied, making Sirius grind his teeth in irritation.

"**Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."**

**Harry followed Fred and George out of the changing room and, hoping his knees weren't going to give way, walked on to the pitch to loud cheers.**

**Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the pitch, waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.**

"**Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. Harry noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, a fifth-year.**

"But of course," Sirius said.

**Harry thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing **_**Potter for President**_** over the crowd. His heart skipped. He felt braver.**

"**Mount your brooms, please."**

"It's starting, it's starting," Sirius said excitedly while rubbing his palms together.

**Harry clambered on to his Nimbus Two Thousand.**

**Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.**

**Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.**

"**And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too –"**

"That's Lee Jordan for you," Ron laughed.

"**JORDAN!"**

"Three guesses who that was and the first two don't count," Remus smiled.

"**Sorry, Professor."**

**The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.**

"**And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve – back to Johnson and – no, Slytherin have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes – Flint flying like an eagle up there – he's going to sc – no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and Gryffindor take the Quaffle – that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH – that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger – Quaffle taken by Slytherin – that's Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goalposts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger – sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which – nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes – she's really flying – dodges a speeding Bludger – the goalposts are ahead – come on, now, Angelina – Keeper Bletchley dives – misses – GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"**

"GO GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius and Ron belted in unison to everyone's amusement.

**Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.**

"**Budge up there, move along."**

"**Hagrid!"**

**Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.**

"How come the story suddenly changed point of view?" Tonks was curious.

"Dunno," Harry replied.

"**Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars round his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"**

"**Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."**

"**Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin',"**

"For Harry, that's huge!" Hermione joked.

"I don't go looking for trouble, trouble usually finds me," Harry argued.

"True, true," Ron agreed.

**said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skywards at the speck that was Harry.**

**Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of his and Wood's game plan.**

"**Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be."**

"Sound advice," Sirius agreed.

**When Angelina had scored, Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let out his feelings. Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch. Once he caught sight of a flash of gold but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasleys' wristwatches, and once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannon ball than anything, but Harry dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it.**

"**All right there, Harry?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously towards Marcus Flint.**

"**Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys and Chaser Bell and speeds towards the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch?"**

**A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle,**

"You don't drop the Quaffle if a Snitch flies by you," Sirius groaned, forgetting that it was a Slytherin who did so for a moment.

**too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.**

**Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downwards after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled towards the Snitch – all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in mid-air to watch.**

**Harry was faster than Higgs – he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead – he put on an extra spurt of speed –**

**WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below – Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose and Harry's broom span off course, Harry holding on for dear life.**

"**Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.**

So were Sirius and Tonks.

**Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goalposts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.**

**Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"**

"**This isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him. "You can't send people off in Quidditch – and what's a red card?"**

**But Hagrid was on Dean's side.**

"**They oughta change the rules, Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."**

**Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.**

"**So – after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating –"**

"McGonagall won't like that," Harry said. He hadn't listened to Lee Jordan much during his first game, so it was nice to read about what happened to others.

"**Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.**

"**I mean, after that open and revolting foul –"**

"He has guts, I'll give you that," Sirius laughed.

"**Jordan, I'm warning you –"**

"**All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."**

**It was as Harry dodged another Bludger which went spinning dangerously past his head that it happened.**

"What happened?" Sirius asked, once again growing concerned for his godson.

"If you'll let me read, you'll find out," Ron told him, but he too remembered how worried he was about his friend and took a look at Harry, reassuring himself that he was all right. Harry noticed this and rolled his eyes.

**His broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch.**

"Did someone curse the broom?" Tonks asked, growing worried for the teenager as well.

**For a split second, he thought he was going to fall. He gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and knees. He'd never felt anything like that.**

**It happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off. But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off.**

"No, they didn't," Snape muttered, remembering how panicky he was when he felt the Dark Magic from behind him and then Harry started to buck on his broomstick. He didn't think about anything else and started muttering the counter-curse. The Dark Magic he was fighting against was strong. Very strong. It wasn't until later that he realized it was the Dark Lord's.

**Harry tried to turn back towards the Gryffindor goalposts; he had half a mind to ask Wood to call time out – and then he realised that his broom was completely out of his control. He couldn't turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zig-zagging through the air and every now and then making violent swishing movements which almost unseated him.**

**Lee was still commentating.**

"**Slytherin in possession – Flint with the Quaffle – passes Spinnet – passes Bell – hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose – only joking, Professor – Slytherin score – oh no …"**

**The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.**

"**Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled.**

"Finally, someone notices," Sirius burst out through his worry-clenched teeth.

**He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom … but he can't have …"**

**Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.**

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand. No matter how often she watched Harry's dangerous Quidditch games, she was always worried that something really bad would happen. Harry smiled at her comfortingly and squeezed her hand back.

"**Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.**

"**Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."**

**At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.**

"**What are you doing?" moaned Ron, grey-faced.**

"**I knew it," Hermione gasped. "Snape – look."**

**Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering non-stop under his breath.**

"**He's doing something – jinxing the broom," said Hermione.**

"I was trying to counter the curse," Snape sneered. Silly girl.

"But how was she supposed to know that? She didn't see anyone else muttering," Harry defended his friend. Snape had nothing to say to that.

"**What should we do?"**

"**Leave it to me."**

"Miss Granger," Severus started as it dawned on him. Hermione looked a bit scared as he gifted her with his most severe glare.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked.

"You'll see," was Ron's reply this time.

**Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Ron turned the binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd were on their feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely on to one of their brooms, but it was no good – every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.**

"Cheater!" Tonks yelled.

"**Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately.**

**Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front.**

"So it _was _actually you who saved me," Harry laughed at a petrified Hermione who was watching Snape as if he was going to put her on a guillotine.

**Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand and whispered a few, well chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand on to the hem of Snape's robes.**

There was a long silence in the room at that. And then Sirius started laughing. Snape just gritted his teeth and stayed silent.

**It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realise that he was on fire.**

"You're not very observant, are you?" Sirius asked him, choking with laughter.

"You're not very observant either," Harry suddenly said with a frown on his face, which made Sirius stop laughing and stare at his godson in shock.

"I mean, Hermione putting professor Snape on fire aside, the guy saved my life. If he hadn't been chanting a counter-curse, I would have fallen off my broom and could have gotten seriously hurt," Harry continued.

"You're right," Sirius agreed quietly. Snape was shocked when Black suddenly turned to him with a serious expression on his face and said, "Thank you for saving my godson's life."

He couldn't do anything but nod at the mutt. Ron took that opportunity to continue reading.

**A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket she scrambled back along the row – Snape would never know what had happened.**

"I do now," Snape murmured to himself.

**It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom.**

"**Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.**

Neville blushed at that.

**Harry was speeding towards the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick –**

"Did you actually get sick from the broomstick moving around so much?" asked a sceptical Siriut. Harry just smiled and motioned for Ron to continue reading.

**he hit the pitch on all fours – coughed – and something gold fell into his hand.**

"No way... you actually caught the Snitch in your mouth?" Tonks was definitively impressed with the youngster now.

"Yep," Harry laughed.

"**I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion.**

"**He didn't **_**catch**_** it, he nearly **_**swallowed**_** it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference – Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the result – Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Harry heard none of this, though.**

"Why not?" asked a perplexed Sirius.

**He was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Ron and Hermione.**

"Oh."

"**It was Snape,"**

"No, it wasn't," Snape muttered angrily. He was getting fed up with everyone suspecting him.

**Ron was explaining. "Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."**

"**Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do some-thin' like that?"**

**Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the truth.**

"**I found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Hallowe'en. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."**

**Hagrid dropped the teapot.**

"**How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.**

"And Hagrid's lack of discretion steals the show again," Tonks murmured.

"The question here is, why would he name that dog Fluffy?" Neville said, confused.

"It's pets with cute names that you have to worry about. If it has a dangerous sounding name, than it's okay," Harry explained. "Just look at Fang – he's got a vicious sounding name and yet he's a coward when it comes to going to the Forbidden Forest. And look at Fluffy, he's a three-headed vicious dog. And don't forget Norbert."

"Norbert?" asked Sirius. Remus perked up at that as well – he hasn't heard anything about a creature called Norbert. Harry's reply with "You'll see," made Remus growl a bit in annoyance. He was getting seriously tired of getting that reply every time someone asked about something that the trio knew about.

He couldn't wait until the end of the third book when they weren't going to know what was going to happen.

"**Fluffy?"**

"**Yeah – he's mine – bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the –"**

"He should have just told us," Harry said smartly. "It would be a lot less dangerous for us and we wouldn't have taken so long in figuring it out."

McGonagall, Dumbledore and even Snape couldn't help but silently agree. Harry operated much more effectively if he knew what was going on.

"**Yes?" said Harry eagerly.**

"**Now, don't ask me any more," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."**

"**But Snape's trying to steal it."**

"**Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."**

"**So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione.**

**The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape.**

"**I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"**

"**I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel –"**

"Oops, I shouldn't have said that," Tonks said, trying to imitate Hagrid's gruff voice.

"**Aha!" said Harry. "So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"**

**Hagrid looked furious with himself.**

"That's the end of the chapter," Ron announced and promptly pushed the book in Harry's hands.


	14. XII The Mirror of Erised

Disclaimer:Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**XII – The Mirror of Erised**

Taking the book from Ron's hands, Harry opened it to the chapter he was going to read and paled. He wished that they could skip this chapter, but he knew they couldn't. It was important. Snape noticed the boy go pale and had to wonder just what was going to happen. Clearing his throat, Harry quietly read the title out loud.

"Erised?" Severus said sharply. He knew about the mirror – since Dumbledore had it in the castle a few years ago, but he didn't know that Harry knew about it. Thinking about Harry's pale expression he came to the conclusion that the boy saw something he felt bad about. He had to wonder what Potter saw.

**Christmas was coming.**

Ron immediately knew just why Harry looked so uncomfortable. He grew uncomfortable as well, remembering what he saw in the Mirror of Erised.

**One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.**

"You know, now that I know what was in that turban of his, I find it a bit ironic," Hermione said with a quirk to her lips. Harry couldn't agree more. Just imagining the Weasley twins flinging snowballs at Voldemort's face was very amusing. However, he couldn't help but worry about the twins – if Voldemort ever rose to his former power again… if he remembered what the twins did… then the twins would be in immense danger, because Voldemort could hold a grudge forever. Just look at Harry. He was still coming after him, just because he couldn't kill him when he was a baby.

"Why do you find it ironic?" Sirius, the ever-curious man, asked. Harry shook his head. By now, almost everyone had learned not to ask such questions, because they would always get the same irritating answer back.

"You'll see," Harry said with a grin, making Sirius groan in annoyance.

**The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver post had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.**

**No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the draughty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.**

No one asked why they couldn't cast warming charms on themselves – they all knew the danger of casting magic around cauldrons – some even from personal experiences.

"**I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."**

"That foul git," Tonks snarled at the audaciousness of one Draco Malfoy.

"Ignore him, I try to," Harry said. Snape had to think about that one too – if everything Draco had told him about their encounters, and from what he read in the book it seemed to be the complete opposite of what really happened, then Harry really did try to ignore the Slytherin. Draco was the one who kept coming after him. Much like the Marauders did after Snape. Severus grimaced at the thought.

**He was looking over at Harry as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled. Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lion-fish, ignored them.**

**Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that Slytherin had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realised that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.**

"He's very unoriginal with his insults," Harry informed the others. "He keeps using the same insults and calls us the same names."

Sirius rolled his eyes while Snape groaned at hearing that Draco was acting so unSlytherinish.

**It was true that Harry wasn't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas. Professor McGonagall had come round the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and Harry had signed up at once. He didn't feel sorry for himself at all; this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying too, because Mr and Mrs Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie.**

**When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.**

"Anyone would have guessed that was Hagrid," Sirius said, which made Remus shake his head at the stupidity of his best friend.

"**Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.**

"**Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."**

"**Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose – that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."**

Tonks did what Harry told her to – she ignored the slimy git and instead concentrated on the warmth that Remus was emitting from sitting so close to her. She wasn't sure why she was feeling that way – he was quite a bit older than her… _Hey, where did that thought come out of?_She asked herself when she realized in which way her mind was flowing. She couldn't like the guy – she barely knew him! And yet when he called her Nymphadora, she liked it quite a bit. She didn't feel the usual revulsion she was accustomed to when people called her by her full first name. She blushed and shook her head to clear it, concentrating on Harry reading the book again, only to find him looking at her with a knowing look on his face. _Oh no,_ was her only thought as he smirked and kept reading as if though nothing happened.

**Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.**

"**WEASLEY!"**

**Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.**

"**He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."**

"**Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."**

"Now, that was unfair," Tonks said, still trying to ignore Harry's look. Snape just scowled at her.

**Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.**

"**I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him –"**

"**I hate them both," said Harry, "Malfoy and Snape."**

"Everyone does, so don't worry about it," piped Sirius in, making Harry frown at him. He didn't hate Snape anymore, and he was sure that the Hogwarts staff didn't hate him either. And he was sure, from what he observed from the man, that his mother didn't hate him either.

"Sirius, you are on the same side," Dumbledore chided the escaped prisoner of Azkaban.

"**Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."**

**So Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.**

"Flitwick always uses this nifty charm where he makes the baubles glow in different colours," Harry noted. He had always enjoyed watching the professors decorate Hogwarts. Sometimes he even helped them and in turn they taught him the charms they were using. Harry always had a lot of fun during Christmas at Hogwarts. He couldn't imagine spending Christmas anywhere else but here. Hogwarts was his home.

"**Ah, Hagrid, the last tree – put it in the far corner, would you?"**

**The Hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.**

"Remember the Christmas in our seventh year?" Remus suddenly asked. He had been quite for a while, thinking about the troll. Now that he knew the details of what happened, he couldn't help but worry about Harry's next "adventure" that was soon coming. It seemed that every year Harry was at Hogwarts something happened. It made him worry about the boy's next four years of Hogwarts.

Sirius grinned as he remembered the "mistletoe incident" as he dubbed it.

"What happened?" Harry asked curiously – knowing that it was something that included his mother and father. Sirius grinned at his godson mischievously and started telling him the tale.

"Remus and I had enchanted a mistletoe to follow James and Lily (they had become a couple only a few weeks before Christmas holidays) around and whenever one of them stopped for a moment, the mistletoe enchanted them so that they couldn't move until the other kissed him on the lips. Of course, we paid for it as well – Lily punished us something awful."

Remus grimaced as he remembered Lily confiscating all of his chocolate for the whole of Christmas holidays. He never helped Sirius play a prank on her after that. Harry was grinning by the end of the tale and thought that his mother had a lot of spunk.

"**How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.**

"**Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me – Harry, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."**

"Why on Earth would you want to go to the library one day before the Christmas holidays?" Sirius asked, aghast at the thought of young children willingly going to the library during their free time.

"**Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron,**

"Even you, Ron!" continued a horror-struck Sirius, making Ron grin at the poor animagus.

**tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.**

"**The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the Hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"**

"See, Hagrid agrees with me!" Sirius said, crossing his arms and pouting.

"**Oh, we're not working," Harry told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."**

"Ah, that would work," Sirius said relieved. If it was searching for clues, then it was okay.

"**You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here – I've told yeh – drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."**

"**We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.**

"**Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere – just give us a hint – I know I've read his name somewhere."**

"And on your very first chocolate card too!" Dumbledore piped in with a small chuckle.

"**I'm sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid flatly.**

"Even when you say nothing, you tend to say too much Hagrid," said an exasperated McGonagall. Harry couldn't help but agree with her assessment.

"**Just have to find out for ourselves, then,"**

"As usual…" Harry grumbled to everyone's amusement.

**said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.**

**They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in**_**Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century**_**, or**_**Notable Magical Names**____**of Our Time**_**; he was missing, too, from**_**Important Modern Magical Discoveries**_**, and**_**A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry**_**.**

"Well, he's not exactly recent, is he," said Sirius with a grin.

**And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.**

**Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books and he knew he'd never get one.**

"At least not until second year," Harry laughed as he remembered Hermione's crush on Lockhart. Hermione seemed to know what was going through his head as she scowled at him.

**These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.**

"**What are you looking for, boy?"**

"**Nothing," said Harry.**

"Not a smart answer," Remus mumbled. He had told the librarian this once, and he wasn't allowed inside the library for a full week. It was terrible!

**Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at him.**

"Beware of the feather duster!" mock-shrieked Sirius, making everyone frown at him. He was getting more ridiculous by the second.

"**You'd better get out, then. Go on – out!"**

**Wishing he'd been a bit quicker at thinking up some story, Harry left the library.**

"Don't worry, Harry, you will," Ron grinned at his best mate. He could still remember the tale his friend had spun to get McGonagall give her permission for the two of them to see Hermione when she was petrified in the Hospital Wing.

**He, Ron and Hermione had already agreed they'd better not ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk Snape hearing what they were up to.**

**Harry waited outside in the corridor to see if the other two had found anything, but he wasn't very hopeful. They had been looking for a fortnight, after all, but as they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.**

"You're going to have to wait for a long time then," commented Remus, missing the looks on the trio's faces. Snape on the other hand remembered Filch talking about someone being out of bed one night during the Christmas holidays. He had a feeling it was Harry who was out of bed. Knowing the boy, it was definitively him.

**Five minutes later, Ron and Hermione joined him, shaking their heads. They went off to lunch.**

"**You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione.**

"Hermione, did you really expect them to go to the library willingly during Christmas holidays?" asked an amused Tonks.

"Not really," Hermione replied with a smile. "But I hoped."

"Well, Harry went to the library a few times," Ron hurried to reassure her that not all hope was lost in the two of them.

"**And send me an owl if you find anything."**

"**And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."**

"**Very safe, as they're both dentists," said Hermione.**

**Once the holidays had started, Ron and Harry were having too good a time to think much about Flamel.**

"Boys," Hermione sighed to herself.

**They had the dormitory to themselves and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork – bread, crumpets, marshmallows – and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work.**

"We did the same thing," Sirius said cheerfully. Harry took his face in and then looked surreptitiously towards professor Snape who was wearing his usual scowl.

**Ron also started teaching Harry wizard chess.**

"He's still horrible at it," Ron commented.

"Anyone who plays against you is horrible, to your standards," Harry said.

**This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Ron's set was very old and battered. Like everything else he owned, it had once belonged to someone else in his family – in this case, his grandfather. However, old chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Ron knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted.**

**Harry played with chessmen Seamus Finnigan had lent him and they didn't trust him at all. He wasn't a very good player yet and they kept shouting different bits of advice at him, which was confusing: "Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send**_**him**_**, we can afford to lose him."**

"Stupid chess pieces," Harry murmured and continued reading.

**On Christmas Eve, Harry went to bed looking forward to next day for the food and the fun, but not expecting any presents at all.**

The mood in the room, which was rather light, plummeted at that. They all remembered the Dursleys and it didn't surprise them that they wouldn't give Harry presents.

**When he woke early next morning, however, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.**

"**Happy Christmas," said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his dressing-gown.**

"**You too," said Harry. "Will you look at this? I've got some presents!"**

"**What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron,**

"Very sensitive of you, Ronald," Hermione huffed good-naturedly.

**turning to his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Harry's.**

**Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was**_**To Harry, from Hagrid**_**. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute.**

"And it actually came useful. Perhaps Hagrid was giving us a hint after all,…" Harry said with a smile.

**Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it – it sounded a bit like an owl.**

**A second, very small parcel contained a note.**

_**We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.**_

"They actually sent you something?" asked a shocked Tonks.

**Sellotaped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.**

"**That's friendly," said Harry.**

"Not really. You can't buy anything good with it," Tonks said with a frown.

**Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence.**

"_**Weird!"**___**he said. "What a shape! This is money?"**

"You sounded just like your dad there as well," Harry informed his friend, who blushed.

"**You can keep it," said Harry, laughing at how pleased Ron was. "Hagrid and my aunt and uncle – so who sent these?"**

"**I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, going a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mum. I told her you didn't expect any presents and – oh, no," he groaned, "she's made you a Weasley jumper."**

"I love Mrs Weasley's jumpers," Harry said to his friend, making him glow with pleasure at the compliment he gave his mother. Ron knew that Harry adored his mum and that his mum adored Harry. It might have made him jealous before, but after reading about Harry's childhood, his jealousy had almost disappeared.

**Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green**

"Again with the green!" Sirius complained happily.

"It's the colour of my eyes, do you have something against them?" Harry asked with a mock-hurt look. Sirius quickly opened his mouth to make an excuse, but Harry was already reading on.

**and a large box of home-made fudge.**

"**Every year she makes us a jumper," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's**_**always**_**maroon."**

"It's the only colour that doesn't clash terribly with your hair and complexion," Hermione said, trying to sound helpful.

"Makes you happy that our robes are black," Harry said with a grin.

"**That's really nice of her," said Harry, trying the fudge, which was very tasty.**

**His next present also contained sweets – a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione.**

"Thanks, Hermione – you were a life saver," Harry laughed, remembering that it was one of Hermione's Chocolate Frog cards that made them find out who Flamel was.

**This left only one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it.**

**Something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor, where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped.**

"You got James' Invisibility Cloak for Christmas in your first year?" asked a frowning Remus. "Who was actually stupid enough to give you the Cloak when you were only eleven? Even James only got it when he was thirteen. It's much too young to have an artefact like this at eleven."

He was shocked to hear the children start laughing. Was it something he said? Even McGonagall and Snape were wearing looks of amusement. He didn't understand what was going on.

"I do apologize for my stupidity then," Dumbledore said, his beard twitching in amusement, and his eyes twinkling madly. Remus was HORRIFIED! Harry saved him by continuing to read the chapter.

"**I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every-Flavour Beans he'd got from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is – they're really rare, and**_**really**_**valuable."**

"**What is it?"**

**Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.**

"**It's an Invisibility Cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is – try it on."**

**Harry threw the Cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell.**

"**It is! Look down!"**

**Harry looked down at his feet, but they had gone.**

"Of course they did, they were invisible," Sirius mocked his godson.

**He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in mid-air, his body completely invisible.**

"Makes me remember that incident with Mr Malfoy during one of the Hogsmeade weekends," Snape said sarcastically. Harry read on, making Snape smirk. He would get to the bottom of this soon anyway – they would probably start reading the third book the day after tomorrow.

**He pulled the Cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.**

"**There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"**

**Harry pulled off the Cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:**

_**Your father left this in my possession before he died.**_

_**It is time it was returned to you.**_

_**Use it well.**_

_**A Very Merry Christmas to you.**_

**There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the Cloak.**

"**I'd give**_**anything**_**for one of these," he said. "Anything. What's the matter?"**

"**Nothing," said Harry. He felt very strange. Who had sent the Cloak? Had it really once belonged to his father?**

**Before he could say or think anything else, the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George Weasley bounded in. Harry stuffed the Cloak quickly out of sight. He didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.**

"Good idea," said Tonks, thinking about the two terrors as she dubbed them during her sixth year when they arrived to Hogwarts. "You don't want them to get their hands on your Cloak. Hogwarts would be left in ruins."

"**Merry Christmas!"**

"**Hey, look – Harry's got a Weasley jumper, too!"**

**Fred and George were wearing blue jumpers, one with a large yellow F on it, the other with a large yellow G.**

"Bet you that they're wearing each other's," said Sirius.

"It's a moot point, since we all know that they probably did," Tonks said with a roll of her eyes.

"**Harry's is better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's jumper. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."**

"**Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."**

"**I hate maroon," Ron moaned half-heartedly as he pulled it over his head.**

"**You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid – we know we're called Gred and Forge."**

"See, what did I tell you," Sirius jested.

"**What's all this noise?"**

**Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly come halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy jumper over his arm, which Fred seized.**

"**P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry got one."**

"**I – don't – want –" said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the jumper over his head, knocking his glasses askew.**

"**And you're not sitting with the Prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."**

**They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his sides by his jumper.**

**Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of fat chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce –**

Ron's stomach made itself known at the description of the food, making everyone (not Snape and Moody) chuckle at him a bit.

**and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic crackers were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats. Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear-admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Up on the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.**

"I still have that bonnet," Dumbledore said with a smile.

**Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lop-sided.**

McGonagall blushed at that, wishing not for the first time this day that her student wouldn't be so observant. _When pigs fly,_she thought to herself, resigning herself to the fact.

**When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a grow-your-own-warts kit and his own new wizard chess set.**

"I still have the kit somewhere in my trunk," Harry said with a grin. "You never know when it might come in handy."

"You have everything you own in your trunk, so that's a moot point," Hermione said, frowning a bit. The thought of Harry carrying his whole life in that little school trunk was a depressing thought, when she couldn't decide which books to take with her and had to leave some at home. Sirius frowned as well. He made a mental note to go shopping with Harry as soon as he would be pardoned. The boy needed new clothes at least – he noticed that he wore big, threadbare ones – and they probably belonged to Dudley Dursley before Harry got them.

**The white mice had disappeared and Harry had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs Norris' Christmas dinner.**

"They probably did," Tonks murmured.

**Harry and the Weasleys spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight in the grounds. Then, cold, wet and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron. He suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help him so much.**

"You would have lost badly anyway," Ron chortled. Harry couldn't help but agree. Strategy was Ron's best point, and Harry was bad at strategizing – he preferred to think on his feet. Or rather, he usually did his best while thinking so, and did worst when he planned things ahead. He blamed his bad luck on that.

**After a tea of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor Tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge.**

"They did that so often it actually grew old soon," Ron said, remembering the beginning of this year when the twins stole Percy's Head Boy badge and Percy blamed Ron for it when it was obvious who actually took it.

**It had been Harry's best Christmas day ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of his mind all day. Not until he climbed into bed was he free to think about it: the Invisibility Cloak and whoever had sent it.**

**Ron, full of turkey and cake and with nothing mysterious to bother him, fell asleep almost as soon as he'd drawn the curtains of his four-poster.**

"Nothing new there," Harry snorted.

**Harry leant over the side of his own bed and pulled the Cloak out from under it.**

**His father's … this had been his father's. He let the material flow over his hands, smoother than silk, light as air. Use it**_**well**_**, the note had said.**

**He had to try it, now.**

"Of course you did," Remus sighed.

**He slipped out of bed and wrapped the Cloak around himself. Looking down at his legs, he saw only moonlight and shadows. It was a very funny feeling.**

**Use it well. Suddenly, Harry felt wide awake. The whole of Hogwarts was open to him in this Cloak. Excitement flooded through him as he stood there in the dark and silence. He could go anywhere in this, anywhere, and Filch would never know.**

**Ron grunted in his sleep. Should Harry wake him? Something held him back – his father's Cloak – he felt that this time – the first time – he wanted to use it alone.**

"I don't mind, mate," Ron reassured him.

**He crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room and climbed through the portrait hole.**

"**Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady.**

"You know, with how many times James and I sneaked out under that Cloak, you'd think she'd get bored of asking that question," Sirius said with a smile.

**Harry said nothing. He walked quickly down the corridor.**

**Where should he go? He stopped, his heart racing, and thought. And then it came to him. The Restricted Section in the library.**

"See, I told you he went to the library," Ron said to Hermione.

"And the first thing you do with your Cloak, is go to the library to read," Sirius said, shaking his head as if he was disappointed. Harry rolled his eyes at that.

**He'd be able to read as long as he liked, as long as it took to find out who Flamel was. He set off, drawing the Invisibility Cloak tight around him as he walked.**

**The library was pitch black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in mid-air, and even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.**

**The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope which separated these books from the rest of the library, he held up his lamp to read the titles.**

"You know, for it being the Restricted Section it sure has little to no serious protection," Tonks murmured. Moody silently agreed with her. If it were him, he would have put at least twenty different sensory detectors in that section of the library. And people called him paranoid…

"It has other protections against trespassing," Dumbledore said. Harry, unfortunately, knew that already.

**They didn't tell him much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages Harry couldn't understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. The hairs on the back of Harry's neck prickled. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.**

"You felt that too?" McGonagall asked in surprise, even though she should have known better. Harry blushed and stared at a particularly interesting part of the book in his hands.

"You have an intimate feeling to magic, it seems," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, while twiddling his thumbs.

**He had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, he looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting-looking book. A large black and silver volume caught his eye.**

"No! Don't take that one!" Sirius yelled out suddenly. He knew what that book did – personally!

**He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.**

"Noooo," moaned Sirius. "You're finished!"

**A piercing, blood-curdling shriek split the silence – the book was screaming!**

"Of course it was, what did you expect it to do?" Sirius guffawed.

"Shut up," Harry murmured.

**Harry snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note.**

"And that's the alarm for the Restricted Section," Dumbledore chuckled. He always found it funny how scared the students would get once they heard a book screaming. He had rarely found someone who went into the Restricted Section twice.

**He stumbled backwards and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once. Panicking, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside – stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, he ran for it. He passed Filch almost in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through him and Harry slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in his ears.**

"Come on, pup, you can run from him – he's too old to run fast anyway," Sirius cajoled.

**He came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. He had been so busy getting away from the library, he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. Perhaps because it was dark, he didn't recognise where he was at all. There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, he knew, but he must be five floors above there.**

"Pup, there are suits of armour everywhere around the school," said Sirius as if talking to a slow person. Harry glared at the implication and ignored his godfather in lieu of continuing to read the chapter. He wanted it to be done with – but people seemed to comment a lot and it was a slow going.

"**You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library – Restricted Section."**

**Harry felt the blood drain out of his face. Wherever he was, Filch must know a short cut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to his horror, it was Snape who replied.**

"Ha!" said Snape with a smirk. "I knew it was you."

"**The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."**

**Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see him, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into him – the Cloak didn't stop him being solid.**

"Sirius found that out the hard way," Remus chuckled. Sirius glared at his friend, daring him to speak. Remus ignored him and continued, "He bumped into professor Dumbledore who was on the way to the kitchens for some hot chocolate."

"Well, thankfully it was Dumbledore who I bumped into," Sirius grinned at the memory. "We went to the kitchens together and drank a lot of hot chocolate and ate a few crumpets. You don't know what you missed, Remus, when you declined my invitation. All that chocolate…"

Remus sighed. He did regret it _now_. Anything for chocolate!

**He backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope. He squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, and to his relief he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything.**

Sirius smirked at Snape, who was scowling at the book. He knew it was Harry there that night, but for that blasted Cloak!

**They walked straight past and Harry leant against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. It was a few seconds before he noticed anything about the room he had hidden in.**

**It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an upturned waste-paper basket – but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.**

"And yet, you didn't lock the room but left it ajar, Dumbledore," Tonks said sarcastically.

**It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top:**_**Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi**_**.**

"I show not your face but your heart's desire," Snape murmured quietly to himself. He knew what his heart's desire was and they would find out about Harry's now. The boy in question looked terrible as he continued reading.

**His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Harry moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself but see no reflection again. He stepped in front of it.**

**He had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself screaming. He whirled around. His heart was pounding far more furiously than when the book had screamed – for he had seen not only himself in the mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right behind him.**

"Huh?" Neville said confused. Why would Harry see people in the mirror if he hated his fame…

**But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, he turned slowly back to the mirror.**

**There he was, reflected in it, white and scared-looking, and there, reflected behind him, were at least ten others. Harry looked over his shoulder – but, still, no one was there. Or were they all invisible, too? Was he in fact in a room full of invisible people and this mirror's trick was that it reflected them, invisible or not?**

**He looked in the mirror again. A woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling at him and waving.**

"Oh," Neville muttered. He suddenly knew just who the people in the mirror were. He knew that he would see the same thing if he looked in the mirror. He would see his parents with him, sane and happy.

**He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air – she and the others existed only in the mirror.**

Ron and Hermione looked at each other over Harry's head and in unison put their arms around the brooding Harry, who's reading voice was becoming smaller and smaller. Snape looked at him in dawning understanding.

**She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes – her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green – exactly the same shape, but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time. The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just like Harry's did.**

**Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.**

"**Mum?" he whispered. "Dad?"**

**They just looked at him, smiling. And slowly, Harry looked into the faces of the other people in the mirror and saw other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses like his, even a little old man who looked as though he had Harry's knobbly knees – Harry was looking at his family, for the first time in his life.**

"What do you mean, for the first time?" McGonagall suddenly asked in a sharp voice. Harry just looked at her. She couldn't believe someone could be as spiteful as Petunia Dursley was – to not even show Harry what his parents looked like…

**The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them. He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness.**

Sirius stood up at that and motioned for Ron and Hermione to move a little, then scooped Harry up into a hug. "I have a lot of pictures of your parents, so I'll show them to you every time you want," he promised softly.

"And professor Dumbledore will let me borrow his Pensieve so that I can show you some memories I have of them."

He said that without looking at the Headmaster. It was only right that the elder wizard do so – it was him that put Harry with the Dursleys after all. It was just a small step on the way of Sirius forgiving him for letting Harry be abused.

Harry smiled into his godfather's shoulders. While he already had an album full of his parents' pictures, it would be nice to see some memories of them as well. He figured that the Pensieve was kind of like Tom Riddle's diary and knew what to expect from it.

"You don't look too confused about being able to watch memories," Tonks observed as she watched the two males bond. Harry looked at her and replied, "I have experience with watching memories."

It was the only thing he said as he put his head on Sirius' shoulder and continued reading while thinking that the couch they were sitting on was becoming more crowded. But he liked it that way – at least he wouldn't be cold and Sirius was right there next to him, his big hand resting on Harry's shoulders. And Lupin and Tonks could finally have a couch all to themselves.

**How long he stood there, he didn't know. The reflections did not fade and he looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses. He couldn't stay here, he had to find his way back to bed. He tore his eyes away from his mother's face, whispered, "I'll come back," and hurried from the room.**

"**You could have woken me up," said Ron, crossly.**

"**You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror."**

"**I'd like to see your mum and dad," Ron said eagerly.**

"**And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, you'll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone."**

"**You can see them any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people.**

"You're such an insensitive prick, Ron," Hermione said, frowning at her friend. Ron pinked and looked away from her.

**Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?"**

**Harry couldn't eat. He had seen his parents and would be seeing them again tonight. He had almost forgotten about Flamel. It didn't seem very important any more. Who cared what the three-headed dog was guarding? What did it matter if Snape stole it, really?**

"That mirror really isn't good for you," Remus said concerned. He knew that people have wasted away in front of the mirror and died. He didn't want that to happen to his cub.

"**Are you all right?" said Ron. "You look odd."**

**What Harry feared most was that he might not be able to find the mirror room again. With Ron covered in the Cloak too, they had to walk much more slowly next night. They tried retracing Harry's route from the library, wandering around the dark passageways for nearly an hour.**

"We also found about four or five secret passages," Ron announced proudly, making Harry roll his eyes in exasperation. The professors weren't supposed to know about that!

"**I'm freezing," said Ron. "Let's forget it and go back."**

"**No.'" Harry hissed. "I know it's here somewhere."**

**They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the opposite direction, but saw no one else. Just as Ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold, Harry spotted the suit of armour.**

"You spotted _the_ suit of armour out of literally hundreds of them?" Tonks said, impressed against her will.

"It had a very distinct shield," was Harry's only explanation.

"**It's here – just here – yes!"**

**They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the Cloak from round his shoulders and ran to the mirror.**

**There they were. His mother and father beamed at the sight of him.**

"**See?" Harry whispered.**

"**I can't see anything."**

"**Look! Look at them all … there are loads of them …"**

"**I can only see you."**

"**Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am."**

**Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he couldn't see his family any more, just Ron in his paisley pyjamas.**

**Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image.**

"**Look at me!" he said.**

"**Can you see all your family standing around you?"**

"**No – I'm alone – but I'm different – I look older – and I'm Head Boy!"**

"**What?"**

"**I am – I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to – and I'm holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup – I'm Quidditch captain, too!"**

"You know, in comparison to Harry, that's a pretty shallow desire," Hermione said.

"You can be pretty insensitive sometimes as well, Hermione," Tonks said bluntly as she watched Ron blush in embarrassment.

**Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry.**

"**Do you think this mirror shows the future?"**

"**How can it? All my family are dead – let me have another look –"**

"**You had it to yourself all last night, give me a bit more time."**

"**You're only holding the Quidditch Cup, what's interesting about that? I want to see my parents."**

"**Don't push me –"**

"And here's the power of the mirror, trying to entice you both," McGonagall said, not liking the fact that the two boys were fighting.

**A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion. They hadn't realised how loudly they had been talking.**

"That was me. I tripped on my robes on my way to the kitchens for a midnight snack," the Headmaster commented.

"**Quick!"**

**Ron threw the Cloak back over them as the luminous eyes of Mrs Norris came round the door. Ron and Harry stood quite still, both thinking the same thing – did the Cloak work on cats?**

"It does, but their sense of smell can still detect you," Sirius said smartly.

**After what seemed an age, she turned and left.**

"**This isn't safe – she might have gone for Filch, I bet she heard us. Come on."**

**And Ron pulled Harry out of the room.**

**The snow still hadn't melted next morning.**

"**Want to play chess, Harry?" said Ron.**

"**No."**

"**Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?"**

"**No … you go …"**

"**I know what you're thinking about, Harry, that mirror. Don't go back tonight."**

"**Why not?"**

"**I dunno, I've just got a bad feeling about it**

"Lo and behold, Ron has a bad feeling about this – you'd better listen to him Harry – that doesn't happen often," Hermione teased.

– **and anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape and Mrs Norris are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"**

"**You sound like Hermione."**

"**I'm serious, Harry, don't go."**

**But Harry only had one thought in his head,**

"Of course he did," Snape muttered to himself.

**which was to get back in front of the mirror, and Ron wasn't going to stop him.**

**That third night he found his way more quickly than before. He was walking so fast he knew he was making more noise than was wise, but he didn't meet anyone.**

"That's because someone told us to take the night off," Snape said sarcastically, making everyone know who it was that told them so. Dumbledore looked as innocent as he always did, all thumb-twiddling and twinkly-eyed.

**And there were his mother and father smiling at him again, and one of his grandfathers nodding happily. Harry sank down to sit on the floor in front of the mirror. There was nothing to stop him staying here all night with his family. Nothing at all.**

"There goes Harry's luck again," Ron teased, nudging Harry in the ribs.

**Except –**

"**So – back again, Harry?"**

**Harry felt as though his insides had turned to ice.**

"That's not a good feeling," Sirius murmured, remembering the feeling when he arrived at Godric's Hollow. It was a similar feeling Harry had just described.

**He looked behind him. Sitting on one of the desks by the wall was none other than Albus Dumbledore. Harry must have walked straight past him, so desperate to get to the mirror he hadn't noticed him.**

"No, I was invisible," the Headmaster said.

"**I – I didn't see you, sir."**

"**Strange how short-sighted being invisible can make you," said Dumbledore, and Harry was relieved to see that he was smiling.**

"Good, he's not angry at you," Neville said, relieved.

"**So," said Dumbledore, slipping off the desk to sit on the floor with Harry,**

"How did you manage?" Tonks asked with a grin.

"I'm still a springy chicken, even if I am old," was all the Headmaster had to say.

"**you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."**

"I wouldn't call it delights, sir," Harry said.

"**I didn't know it was called that, sir."**

"**But I expect you've realised by now what it does?"**

"**It – well – it shows me my family –"**

"**And it showed your friend Ron himself as Head Boy."**

"**How did you know –?"**

"Yeah, how did you know?" Sirius asked.

"I heard them talking while I walked down the corridor," Dumbledore said.

"**I don't need a cloak to become invisible," said Dumbledore gently. "Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?"**

**Harry shook his head.**

"**Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a al mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?"**

**Harry thought. Then he said slowly, "It shows us what we want … whatever we want …"**

"**Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.**

"**The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever**_**do**_**run across it, you will now be prepared.**

"That sounds kind of like you planned for Harry to know what the mirror does, you know," Tonks said frowningly. Moody looked at her approvingly. It wasn't just the fact because she was a Metamorphmagus that she would make a good Auror. She had a good head on her shoulders and was smarter than people gave her credit for. He wondered if he should give her some advice on how to be prepared for the worst…

**It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable Cloak back on and get off to bed?"**

**Harry stood up.**

"**Sir – Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?"**

"**Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled.**

"You walked right into that one, pup," Sirius laughed.

"**You may ask me one more thing, however."**

"**What do you see when you look in the Mirror?"**

"That's a pretty personal question," Remus said.

"**I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."**

"Really, Dumbledore," McGonagall sighed in frustration.

**Harry stared.**

"**One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."**

"I must thank you, Harry, for the wonderful warm socks I have received these past two Christmases," Dumbledore said, making Harry glow pink.

**It was only when he was back in bed that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful. But then, he thought, as he shoved Scabbers off his pillow, it had been quite a personal question.**

"Yes it was, and now it's my turn to read the book again!" said Tonks.


	15. XIII Nicolas Flamel

Disclaimer:Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**XIII - Nicolas Flamel**

"Ah, so you discover who he is in this chapter!" Tonks said excitedly as she read the chapter title.

**Dumbledore had convinced Harry not to go looking for the Mirror of Erised again**

"And why couldn't you have listened to me?" Ron complained.

**and for the rest of the Christmas holidays the Invisibility Cloak stayed folded at the bottom of his trunk. Harry wished he could forget what he'd seen in the Mirror as easily, but he couldn't. He started having nightmares. Over and over again he dreamed about his parents disappearing in a flash of green light while a high voice cackled with laughter.**

Sirius pulled Harry closer to him when he heard that. It reminded him of the nightmares he suffered from in Azkaban.

"**You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad," said Ron, when Harry told him about these dreams.**

**Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of things. She was torn between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed,**

"Of course she was," Harry grinned.

**roaming the school three nights in a row ('If Filch had caught you!') and disappointment that he hadn't at least found out who Nicolas Flamel was.**

**They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry was still sure he'd read the name somewhere.**

"Yeah, on the back of a Chocolate Frog card," Tonks teased the boy. The boy in question just rolled his eyes.

**Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry had even less time than the other two, because Quidditch practice had started again.**

**Wood was working the team harder than ever.**

"But not as hard as he worked us this year," Harry mumbled.

**Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic, but Harry was on Wood's side. If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years.**

"Don't tell me you're just as obsessed with Quidditch as Ron and Wood are," Hermione said in a troubled voice.

"If you'll let Tonks read, you'll find out why I was so "obsessed" with Quidditch," was all Harry said.

**Quite apart from wanting to win, Harry found that he had fewer nightmares when he was tired out after training.**

"Oh," Hermione sighed. She should have known that Harry wasn't quite as Quidditch crazy as her other friends. Now that she thought about it, Harry was quite sane when it came to Quidditch. If you ignored the whole rogue Bludger and Dementors thing.

**Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news.**

Snape smirked at that. He knew exactly what bad news that was.

**He'd just got very angry with the Weasleys, who kept dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms.**

"**Will you stop messing around!" he yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"**

"Why would you referee a Quidditch match?" Tonks asked her ex-professor. Snape didn't reply. He didn't want it known that he only refereed so that he could keep an eye on Harry. Not that it was necessary. The brat finished the game in less than five minutes. And he had to endure frowns and scowls for two weeks after he made his decision known. McGonagall especially was very suspicious towards him after that. No one had any idea why he applied after all – they all thought it was to spite Potter. Well, Dumbledore guessed and his guesses were usually right.

**George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these words.**

"Nice reaction," Sirius grinned.

"**Snape's refereeing?" he spluttered through a mouthful of mud.**

"That must have tasted awful," Neville murmured.

"**When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."**

**The rest of the team landed next to George to complain, too.**

"**It's not my fault," said Wood. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."**

**Which was all very well, thought Harry, but he had another reason for not wanting Snape near him while he was playing Quidditch …**

Snape really was getting tired of this.

**The rest of the team hung back to talk to each other as usual at the end of practice, but Harry headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing chess. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.**

Hermione pouted.

"Well, it's true!" Ron said to her with a grin.

"It doesn't mean I have to like it," she countered.

"Well, we all know you're a sore loser, so it doesn't really mean much," Harry teased her.

Hermione humphed in reply.

"**Don't talk to me for a moment," said Ron when Harry sat down next to him. "I need to concen–" He caught sight of Harry's face.**

"That broke my concentration right away, let me tell you," Ron said, remembering the look on Harry's face.

"**What's the matter with you? You look terrible."**

**Speaking quietly so that no one else would hear, Harry told the other two about Snape's sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee.**

"**Don't play" said Hermione at once.**

"Are you mental? If he didn't play, Gryffindor would lose by default!" Sirius protested loudly.

"Hey, don't call Hermione mental!" Ron said, frowning. Hermione glowed with pleasure at that.

"That's my line," Ron continued, making Hermione roll her eyes and cross her arms in annoyance. And there she thought he was going to say something nice about her. Figures.

"**Say you're ill," said Ron.**

"**Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.**

"**Really break your leg," said Ron.**

"Brilliant advice," Tonks said sarcastically.

"It was the only thing that I could think of," Ron defended himself.

"Plus, Madam Pomfrey would be able to fix him in seconds," Remus added to Ron's consternation.

"**I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker.**

"And why wasn't there a reserve Seeker?" Sirius asked with a frown.

"Wood couldn't find anyone that flew as well as Harry did, and there weren't a lot of people that tried out," Hermione said. She had overheard Wood complaining to Angelina about it once.

"**If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."**

**At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognised at once as the Leg-Locker Curse.**

"Let me guess, Malfoy did this," Tonks said with a scowl.

**He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.**

"I did – though I took some breaks in-between. It was hard jumping all the time. And I fell a lot too," Neville said.

**Everyone fell about laughing except Hermione, who leapt up and performed the counter-curse.**

"For the record, neither Harry nor Ron laughed either," Neville quickly corrected Tonks.

**Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling.**

"**What happened?" Hermione asked him, leading him over to sit with Harry and Ron.**

"**Malfoy," said Neville shakily. "I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practise that on."**

"**Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!"**

"Yes, that's what you should have done, Mr Longbottom," the person in question said with a stern look. She would have given Mr Malfoy a detention and took points. Although she knew that it probably wouldn't stop the bullying.

**Neville shook his head.**

"**I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.**

"**You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."**

"**There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked.**

"Hey, I didn't mean it that way!" Ron protested with a hurt look.

"It sounded that way," Neville said.

"Don't worry, I know you meant it in a different way," he added.

**Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Hermione had given him for Christmas.**

"See Hermione, you were a life saver!" Harry said cheerfully.

**He gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry.**

"**You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it?**

"I argued with it to put me in Hufflepuff, but it put me in Gryffindor instead," Neville admitted.

"It nearly became a Hatstall," Hermione said and then looked thoughtful. "Now that I think about it, I think mine almost became one as well."

"What's a Hatstall?" asked a clueless Ron.

"It's an archaic term for a student who's Sorting takes more than five minutes. It's really rare for a true Hatstall to happen – they occur around once every fifty years," Hermione explained. She had read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_.

"I was a Hatstall – the Sorting Hat couldn't decide between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw," McGonagall said, remembering her five-and-a-half minutes long Sorting.

"I think I was also a Hatstall," Harry said, remembering the long time it took to sort him.

"You were," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Professor Flitwick was also one – the Hat wavered between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw but chose the latter."

"And Miss Granger and Mr Longbottom were near Hatstalls," McGonagall added, agreeing with their previous comments. "Near Hatstalls are a lot more common than Hatstalls."

"So, that means that Harry is once again special because of a Hatstall that rarely occurs," Tonks said cheerfully. Harry rolled his eyes. He didn't think he was anything special.

"Ah, you just thought that you're not special," Hermione said, correctly interpreting his expression.

"That's because I'm not!" Harry protested.

**And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."**

"That cheered me up a bit," Neville said, "if only because it was so funny the way you said stinking Slytherin."

**Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the Frog.**

"**Thanks, Harry … I think I'll go to bed … D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"**

"Thanks, Neville," Harry said smiling. "We couldn't have done it without you."

Neville blushed with pleasure.

**As Neville walked away Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card.**

"**Dumbledore again," he said. "He was the first one I ever –"**

"And it dawns on him," Remus grinned.

**He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he looked up at Ron and Hermione.**

"**I've**_**found him!**_**" he whispered. "I've found Flamel! I**_**told**_**you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here – listen to this: 'Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood**_**and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel**_**'!"**

**Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd got back the marks for their very first piece of homework.**

Most of the people in the room chuckled at that while Hermione mock-glared at her best friends.

"**Stay there!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Harry and Ron barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms.**

"**I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."**

"The enormous book Tonks just read about was light reading?" Sirius asked stumped.

"_**Light?**_**" said Ron,**

"Ron agrees with you," Remus said, chuckling.

**but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up,**

"She still does that," Ron complained.

**and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself.**

"You know, the first sign of madness is if you talk to yourself," Harry grinned.

"And what's the second?" Sirius couldn't help but ask.

"It's when the voices in your head answer back," Ron laughed.

**At last she found what she was looking for.**

"**I knew it! I**_**knew**_**it!"**

"**Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily. Hermione ignored him.**

"That happens often as well," Harry said, to Hermione and Ron's chagrin.

"**Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the**_**only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone**_**!"**

**This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.**

"Of course it didn't," Sirius said. He'd never heard of the Philosopher's Stone until they started reading the book.

"**The what?" said Harry and Ron.**

"**Oh, honestly, don't you two read? Look – read that, there."**

"If they don't read, how did you expect them to read?" Sirius asked a stupid question again.

**She pushed the book towards them, and Harry and Ron read:**

_**The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.**_

_**There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera-lover. Mr Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).**_

"**See?" said Hermione, when Harry and Ron had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"**

"Good deduction," Moody growled. "You'd make a fine Auror."

Hermione glowed with pleasure.

"**A stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."**

"**And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that**_**Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry**_**," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"**

"Only Ron could say something like that and make it sound intelligent," Harry joked.

"Hey!" Ron protested.

**Next morning in Defence Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Harry and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Philosopher's Stone if they had one. It wasn't until Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team that Harry remembered about Snape and the coming match.**

"Now he remembers," said Sirius while messing Harry's hair.

"**I'm going to play," he told Ron and Hermione. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape.**

"Which you're not," Tonks said with a grin, remembering the boy's guts when he went to get his Quidditch book back.

**I'll show them … it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."**

"It did," Harry grinned proudly.

"**Just as long as we're not wiping you off the pitch," said Hermione.**

"Did you get infected with Harry's pessimism?" Sirius asked the girl.

**As the match drew nearer, however, Harry became more and more nervous, whatever he told Ron and Hermione. The rest of the team weren't too calm, either. The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House Championship was wonderful, no one had done it for nearly seven years, but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?**

**Harry didn't know whether he was imagining it or not, but he seemed to keep running into Snape wherever he went.**

"Aw, you got your own stalker!" Sirius said while smirking at Snape. Harry rolled his eyes. Snape on the other hand was once again surprised that the boy noticed as much.

**At times, he even wondered whether Snape was following him, trying to catch him on his own. Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly torture, Snape was so horrible to Harry. Could Snape possibly know they'd found out about the Philosopher's Stone? Harry didn't see how he could – yet he sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds.**

"You notice way too much for your own good," Snape grumbled at being found out in Harry's first year already. Of course, in his first year Harry didn't know that he could read minds, but he had an incredibly good feeling about it.

"It's kept me alive so far," was Harry's only answer.

**Harry knew, when they wished him good luck outside the changing rooms next afternoon, that Ron and Hermione were wondering whether they'd ever see him alive again.**

"You caught his pessimism too Ron?" Tonks asked with a grin.

**This wasn't what you'd call comforting.**

"No, it wasn't," Harry laughed.

**Harry hardly heard a word of Wood's pep talk as he pulled on his Quidditch robes and picked up his Nimbus Two Thousand.**

**Ron and Hermione, meanwhile, had found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had both brought their wands to the match.**

"I do now," Neville said.

**Little did Harry know that Ron and Hermione had been secretly practising the Leg-Locker Curse.**

"And why couldn't I have practiced that curse with you? It's a useful curse to know," Harry said, feeling a bit hurt that they excluded him.

**They'd got the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville, and were ready to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt Harry.**

"First fire, then the Leg-Locker Curse… what next?" Snape murmured while scowling.

"**Now, don't forget, it's**_**Locomotor Mortis**_**," Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve.**

"**I know," Ron snapped. "Don't nag."**

"She does that sometimes when she's nervous," Harry explained to the people in the room. Unnecessarily, mind you.

**Back in the changing room, Wood had taken Harry aside.**

"**Don't want to pressure you, Potter, but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch it's now. Finish the game before Snape can favour Hufflepuff too much."**

"Don't worry, he will," Ron said grinning. Not that he saw much of the game, now that he thought about it.

"**The whole school's out there!" said Fred Weasley, peering out of the door. "Even – blimey – Dumbledore's come to watch!"**

"And Dumbledore watching makes everything better," Remus said while smiling.

**Harry's heart did a somersault.**

"_**Dumbledore**_**?" he said, dashing to the door to make sure. Fred was right. There was no mistaking that silver beard.**

**Harry could have laughed out loud with relief. He was safe. There was simply no way that Snape would dare to try and hurt him if Dumbledore was watching.**

"No one would," Sirius said smiling in relief that whomever attacked Harry during the last Quidditch game couldn't try again.

**Perhaps that was why Snape was looking so angry as the teams marched on to the pitch, something that Ron noticed, too.**

Snape was just angry that he was going to have to referee for nothing. With Dumbledore there, of course no one would dare attack Harry Potter.

"**I've never seen Snape look so mean," he told Hermione. "Look – they're off. Ouch!"**

**Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.**

"No surprises there," Sirius growled. "I wondered when he'd show up again."

Snape only sighed.

"**Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there."**

**Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.**

"**Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"**

**Ron didn't answer; Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit a Bludger at him. Hermione, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at Harry, who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the Snitch.**

"**You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money – you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."**

"Can I take points away from Mr Malfoy when we get out of here?" asked an irate McGonagall.

"No," Snape replied.

"It did happen two years ago, Minerva," Dumbledore said serenely.

**Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy.**

"**I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.**

"You tell him, Neville!" Sirius said enthusiastically to Ron's ever growing amusement.

**Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell him, Neville."**

"Sirius, you really should stop repeating what everyone said. It's getting old!" Tonks laughed after she read the last part.

"I can't help it," Sirius complained.

"**Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something." Ron's nerves were already stretched to breaking point with anxiety about Harry.**

"**I'm warning you, Malfoy – one more word –"**

"**Ron!" said Hermione suddenly. "Harry – !"**

"**What? Where?"**

**Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, as Harry streaked towards the ground like a bullet.**

"**You're in luck, Weasley Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.**

"He shouldn't have said that," Remus said smartly, knowing just how nervous Ron was. And it would only take one more word from Malfoy to attack him.

**Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground.**

That just proved Remus right.

**Neville hesitated, then clambered over the back of his seat to help.**

"Go Neville!" Sirius cheered while McGonagall and Snape looked disapproving.

"**Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, leaping on to her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape – she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe and Goyle.**

**Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches – next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.**

**The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.**

"It was. It beat the last record by twenty minutes," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"**Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor are in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Parvati Patil in the row in front.**

**Harry jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. He couldn't believe it. He'd done it – the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As Gryffindors came spilling on to the pitch, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped – then Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore's smiling face.**

"**Well done," said Dumbledore quietly, so that only Harry could hear. "Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that mirror … been keeping busy … excellent …"**

**Snape spat bitterly on the ground.**

"Severus," McGonagall scolded the Potions professor.

**Harry left the changing room alone some time later, to take his Nimbus Two Thousand back to the broomshed. He couldn't ever remember feeling happier. He'd really done something to be proud of now – no one could say he was just a famous name any more. The evening air had never smelled so sweet. He walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in his head, which was a happy blur: Gryffindors running to lift him on to their shoulders; Ron and Hermione in the distance, jumping up and down, Ron cheering through a heavy nosebleed.**

**Harry had reached the shed. He leant against the wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its windows glowing red in the setting sun. Gryffindor in the lead. He'd done it, he'd shown Snape …**

**And speaking of Snape …**

"Oh no," Snape groaned. "Don't tell me…"

"Okay, I won't," Harry grinned.

"Cheeky brat," Snape grumbled, knowing what was coming next.

**A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle. Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry's victory faded from his mind as he watched. He recognised the figure's prowling walk.**

"Of course he did, who else has such a prowling walk than our Snape?" Tonks said with a grin. Remus had to admire her guts as he watched Snape scowl at the currently pink-haired girl.

**Snape, sneaking into the Forest while everyone else was at dinner – what was going on?**

"Nothing you should worry about," Snape muttered to himself, knowing it was useless to say anything else.

**Harry jumped back on his Nimbus Two Thousand and took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw Snape enter the Forest at a run. He followed.**

"Of course he did," Snape muttered again. How could he not have noticed that he had been followed? What a spy he was.

**The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Snape had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices. He glided towards them and landed noiselessly in a towering beech tree.**

**He climbed carefully along one of the branches, holding tight to his broomstick, trying to see through the leaves.**

**Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone. Quirrell was there, too. Harry couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever. Harry strained to catch what they were saying.**

"… **d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus …"**

"**Oh, I thought we'd keep this private," said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone, after all."**

"No, they weren't," said Snape and gave Harry a piercing look.

**Harry leant forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.**

"**Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"**

"**B-b-but Severus, I –"**

"**You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step towards him.**

"**I-I don-t know what you –"**

"**You know perfectly well what I mean."**

"That probably didn't endear you to Harry and made you an even more suspicious person," Remus said thoughtfully. Harry nodded. Of course, he knew now that Quirrell was the one who he should have suspected.

**An owl hooted loudly and Harry nearly fell out of the tree. He steadied himself in time to hear Snape say, "– your little bit of hocus pocus. I'm waiting."**

"**B-but I d-d-don't –"**

"**Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."**

**He threw his cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Harry could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was petrified.**

_He was probably talking to Voldemort,_ Harry thought to himself, not wanting to say it out loud until they actually reached the chapter where the eleven-year-old Harry discovered that fact. In fact, it shouldn't be long now.

"**Harry, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked.**

"**We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right – talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."**

"**Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly.**

"You couldn't have waited until the next day, could you?" Ron teased. "You ruined the mood!"

"Sorry," Harry apologized.

"**Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this …"**

**He made sure Peeves wasn't inside**

"Something James and Sirius learnt the hard way," Remus said with a grin.

**before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard.**

"**So we were right, it is the Philosopher's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy – and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus' – I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell which Snape needs to break through –"**

"**So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.**

"**It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.**

"You're really good at comic relief, Ron," Tonks said with a small chuckle as she handed the book over to Hermione.


	16. XIV Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**XIV – Norbert, the Norwegian Ridgeback**

McGonagall groaned as soon as Hermione read the chapter title.

"There really _was_ a dragon," she moaned worriedly. How come no one at Hogwarts realized that there was a dragon on the grounds?

**Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought.**

"Or he was the one trying to steal the stone," Harry muttered to himself.

**In the weeks that followed, he did seem to be getting paler and thinner,**

"Voldemort must have possessed him by then," Harry said to everyone's shock. Most of them didn't know what happened at the end of Harry's first year, and those that did didn't know all the details as Harry was keeping mum about it. Who'd want to tell everyone what happened down there?

**but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.**

**Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Ron and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.**

"Makes me feel pretty stupid right now," Ron grumbled.

**Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Philosopher's Stone. She had started drawing up revision timetables and colour-coding all her notes. Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same.**

"**Hermione, the exams are ages away."**

"**Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."**

"But they're not six hundred years old!" Sirius complained. Hermione just rolled her eyes and read on.

"**But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her.**

"See, Ron agrees with me!" Sirius continued, ignoring the snorts that followed.

"**Anyway, what are you revising for, you already know it all."**

"**What am I revising for? Are you mad? You realise we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's got into me …"**

"That's a bit extreme, don't you think Hermione?" Tonks asked the bushy-haired girl. Hermione sighed.

**Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones.**

"They usually aren't," Neville agreed with a small smile. He remembered studying hard as well – even though his Potions grade was abysmal at best.

**It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practising wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with her, trying to get through all their extra work.**

"Boys," Hermione said shaking her head at the two teenagers.

"**I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.**

"Then why didn't you study outside?" Tonks asked perplexed. Ron and Harry pointed at Hermione as if that would answer the question. It rather did.

"Don't worry – we go to study outside as well," Harry comforted the Metamorphmagus.

**Harry, who was looking up "Dittany" in **_**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi**_**,**

"This time you're even looking in the right textbook," Sirius teased his godson.

"Shut up," Harry murmured embarrassedly. It was enough that Snape teased him about it, and now Sirius was starting? He'll never leave it alone.

**didn't look up until he heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"**

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen Hagrid in the library before," Tonks mused, trying to think of an instance where she did, but couldn't come up with anything.

"Neither have I," Sirius and McGonagall murmured in unison, then rolled their eyes at each other.

**Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back.**

"That's the first sign that he's doing something he shouldn't be doing," Remus said with his hoarse voice, looking thoughtful. A dragon was mentioned in the chapter's title, and Hagrid loved dangerous animals – it wasn't that hard to put two and two together and get four. It was Hagrid who had gotten a dragon and the trio somehow got mixed into it.

**He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.**

"Especially if he's in the library, then he really looks very out of place," Sirius said smartly, making everyone groan at his stating of the obvious. It almost rivalled Ron's, now that Harry thought about it.

"**Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once.**

"Of course it did," Tonks said with a grin. "They're curious children and Hagrid's acting abnormally – plus he's in the library."

"**An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"**

"**Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "**_**And**_** we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St–"**

"Are you crazy? Shouting about it in the library where everyone could hear you? What's the matter with you?" Sirius said in an exasperated voice.

"Sorry," Ron said with a grumble.

"**Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"**

"Sirius, you should really stop parroting others, it's unbecoming," Dumbledore said after the room quietened down from the chuckling attack. They didn't know how Sirius did it. So far, he parroted Dumbledore, Ron, Hagrid, and Harry. They wondered when he would parrot others in the room.

"**There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy –"**

"**SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen – come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh –"**

"You kind of did, Hagrid," McGonagall said shaking her head at the bumbling half-giant.

"**See you later, then," said Harry.**

**Hagrid shuffled off.**

"**What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.**

"**Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"**

"No, it's dragons," Sirius said.

"**I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.**

"Madam Pince gave him an angry look," Harry remembered.

"**Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these:**_**Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide**_**."**

"**Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Harry.**

"**But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that.**

"I didn't know that," Hermione admitted.

"**It's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden – anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."**

"**But there aren't wild dragons in **_**Britain**_**!" said Harry.**

"Shows me what I know," said Harry self-deprecatingly.

"**Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our lot have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."**

"**So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.**

"He got a dragon somehow," Sirius said matter-of-factly.

**When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called, "Who is it?" before he let them in and then shut the door quickly behind them.**

**It was stiflingly hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.**

"**So – yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"**

"**Yes," said Harry. There was no point beating about the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."**

**Hagrid frowned at him.**

"**O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts – I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."**

"Now would be a great time to get him drunk," Sirius said with a grin making McGonagall and Remus frown at him.

"Hermione had a better idea," Harry said mischievously, making Hermione roll her eyes.

"**Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice.**

"That would work as well," Snape said, impressed against his will.

**Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling. "We only wondered who had **_**done **_**the guarding, really." Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."**

"Good one, Hermione," Sirius said admiringly. Why didn't they ever thought of just flattering the bejesus out of Hagrid?

**Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione.**

"**Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that … let's see … he borrowed Fluffy from me … then some o' the teachers did enchantments … Professor Sprout – Professor Flitwick – Professor McGonagall –" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell – an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."**

"He basically told you everything!" said a shocked McGonagall. She couldn't believe- Wait… she could.

"**Snape?"**

"**Yeah – yer not still on abou' that, are yeh?**

"They are," Sirius smirked at Severus. Snape scowled at him but didn't say anything.

**Look, Snape helped **_**protect **_**the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."**

**Harry knew Ron and Hermione were thinking the same as he was. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything – except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.**

"**You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"**

"**Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.**

"**Well, that's something," Harry muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."**

"**Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid. Harry noticed him glance at the fire. Harry looked at it, too.**

"**Hagrid – what's that?"**

"It's a dragon," Sirius answered instead of Hagrid.

**But he already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.**

"**Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard. "That's – er …"**

"**Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."**

"**Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."**

"Who wouldn't be," Tonks frowned. "And why did that stranger have a dragon egg at all?"

Moody was once again impressed by the Metamorphmagus' brain work.

"**But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Hermione.**

"**Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library –**_**Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit**_**– it's a bit outta date, o' course,**

"Of course," Sirius mumbled as he started to worry about what would happen. If the dragon was in the chapter's title then it had to be big. And it was a Norwegian Ridgeback. They were a very vicious sort.

**but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. an' see here – how ter recognise diff'rent eggs – what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."**

**He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't. "Hagrid, you live in a**_**wooden**_**house," she said. But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.**

"He usually doesn't listen if it's about his pets," Remus said with a resigned sigh.

**So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.**

"I assure you that I wouldn't let Hagrid get into any real trouble. Not if I could help it," Dumbledore said soothingly.

"**Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed,**

"Dunno," said Harry dully. He hadn't had a peaceful life so far. Just look at what happened to him. At age one and a half he lost his parents to an evil Wizard, then he lived for ten years as a house elf for his relatives and every year since coming to Hogwarts someone tried to kill him.

**as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had now started making revision timetables for Harry and Ron, too. It was driving them mad.**

**Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words:**_**It's hatching**_**.**

"Wow, you three actually saw a dragon hatch," Tonks sighed in reverence. "It's a really rare and special opportunity for people that don't work at dragon reserves."

**Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut.**

"I doubt Hermione will let you," Remus smiled.

**Hermione wouldn't hear of it.**

"**Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"**

"**We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing –"**

"**Shut up!" Harry whispered.**

**Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen.**

"Good thing you noticed him on time," Sirius said nervously. He didn't like that fact that Malfoy heard them talking about the dragon. It spelled Trouble with a capital T. The look on McGonagall's face was answer enough that Malfoy was indeed involved in whatever debacle happened.

**How much had he heard? Harry didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.**

**Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology,**

"Nothing new here," Neville grinned at the two. They reminded him of an old married couple sometimes.

**and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other two during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the three of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the Forest. Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited.**

"**It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.**

**The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.**

**They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.**

"I would too if I was there," Tonks said as she leaned forward in excitement. She never saw a dragon being hatched, much less read about it. She only heard about it from Charlie Weasley – one of her friends from Hogwarts. Remus found her excitement adorable.

_Wait. What?_ Remus was surprised at the route his mind was going in. The girl was just that – a girl. Barely out of Hogwarts and way too young for him. And he was a werewolf to boot. And unemployed as of two weeks ago. He couldn't afford to like someone when he couldn't even support them or even marry them – due to the prejudices over werewolves.

Not that he wanted to marry her. Why did he have to think about that? He groaned and let his head fall into his hands.

**All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped on to the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella.**

"First you describe Tom as a gummy walnut and now little Norbert looks like a crumpled, black umbrella," Sirius shook his head, laughing at Harry's creative descriptions. Remus felt relieved as almost everyone laughed at Sirius' comment. Tonks was laughing at her cousin now instead of watching Remus with a concerned eye.

**Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body and it had a long snout with wide nostrils, stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.**

**It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.**

"**Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured.**

"Question. How can he be sure that it's a he and not a she?" Sirius asked. Harry shrugged.

"Dunno, never asked," he replied.

**He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.**

"**Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid.**

"Guess Hagrid isn't sure about his own gender either," Ron sniggered.

"**Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"**

"Very fast," McGonagall said worried.

**Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face – he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.**

"**What's the matter?"**

"**Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains – it's a kid – he's runnin' back up ter the school."**

"Malfoy," Tonks snarled. No one disagreed with her.

**Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.**

**Malfoy had seen the dragon.**

**Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Ron and Hermione very nervous. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.**

"**Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."**

"**I can't," said Hagrid. "He's too little. He'd die."**

"Unfortunately, that's true," Tonks mused. "Why don't you write to Ron's brother to take him?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other. That was exactly what they did.

**They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length, in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.**

"**I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"**

"He's lost his marbles," Sirius muttered in Harry's ear.

"**He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered in Harry's ear.**

Harry was shaking from silent laugher at his side and wasn't helping things at all. Remus as well was twitching his lips in amusement. In fact, everyone in the room, sans Snape and Moody, were laughing at him. Again. This time, not only did he say the same thing as Ron did, he said it in the same way as well.

"**Hagrid," said Harry loudly, "give it a fortnight and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."**

"He wouldn't. He probably likes having something to blackmail you with," Tonks said with a scowl.

**Hagrid bit his lip.**

"**I – I know I can't keep him for ever, but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."**

**Harry suddenly turned to Ron.**

"**Charlie," he said.**

"Ah, so you did think of Charlie!" Tonks said with a smile.

"You know my brother? Ron asked her curiously.

"Sure I do. We were in the same year at Hogwarts and good friend," Tonks said with a grin. Remus suddenly felt like someone punched him in the gut. He wasn't sure that Charlie was just a good friend of Tonks' – not with the way she was smiling. He didn't like the green monster that suddenly reared in his body. He had enough to worry about with the monster he was.

"**You're losing it, too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?"**

"**No – Charlie – your brother Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"**

"**Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"**

**And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him.**

**The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry's Invisibility Cloak. He had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.**

"**It bit me!" he said, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief.**

"Ron, you have to go to the Hospital Wing at once!" Tonks said worriedly. "Ridgebacks have poisonous teeth!"

"Don't worry – I was fine," Ron said, trying to calm Tonks down. He felt just a little bit flattered that such a pretty girl worried about him. That was until he saw Hermione's frown and quickly stopped feeling flattered.

"**I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."**

"Hagrid," McGonagall murmured as she shook her head again. This was getting out of hand.

**There was a tap on the dark window.**

"**It's Hedwig!"**

The bird in question nudged Harry's hand and he immediately continued petting her.

**said Harry, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"**

**The three of them put their heads together to read the note.**

_**Dear Ron,**_

_**How are you? Thanks for the letter – I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.**_

_**Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.**_

_**Send me an answer as soon as possible.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Charlie**_

"Good, now you can get rid of the dragon," Remus said relieved, not noticing the looks on the faces of all four of the teenagers. Snape however did and remembered that in first year Gryffindor suddenly lost one hundred and fifty points in one night. He figured it had something to do with the dragon, now that he thought about it. Granger and Potter had been caught by Filch up near the Astronomy Tower – the only missing piece of the puzzle was why Longbottom lost fifty points we well.

**They looked at each other.**

"**We've got the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult –**

"Oh no, Harry," Sirius groaned. "You jinxed it!"

Harry scowled but didn't disagree. His godfather was right after all – it all went perfect until he was stupid enough to forget the Invisibility Cloak.

**I think the Cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."**

**It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other two agreed with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert – and Malfoy.**

**There was a hitch. By next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey – would she recognise a dragon bite?**

"She would, but she wouldn't ask any questions nor would she tell the staff," Remus said – knowing how Madam Pomfrey worked from personal experience. "She's bound by her Healer oath."

**By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous.**

**Harry and Hermione rushed up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.**

"**It's not just my hand," he whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me – I've told her it was a dog but I don't think she believes me – I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."**

"No, he's just a git," Tonks said with a scowl.

**Harry and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.**

"**It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all. On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.**

"What now?" asked a concerned Sirius.

"You'll see," said Ron hoarsely. He broke into a sweat again just remembering what happened.

"**Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no – oh no – I've just remembered – Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."**

"That sucks," Tonks commiserated with Ron who looked terrible at the mention of what happened to Charlie's letter.

**Harry and Hermione didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.**

"She never let us stay with Remus for long either," Sirius complained. Harry smiled secretly to himself. He had managed to convince Madam Pomfrey to let Ron and Hermione stay longer at the end of his first year. Remus noticed the smile and had to wonder. Madam Pomfrey did seem to like the boy and had even shown Remus the bed Harry was usually using when he was in the Hospital Wing. She even joked that if Harry stayed in the infirmary one more time she would put a plaque with the boy's name over the bed saying "Harry's Bed".

"**It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told Hermione. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we**_**have**_**got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."**

**They found Fang the boarhound sitting outside with a bandaged tail**

"Poor Fang," Sirius said, feeling sympathy for the dog.

**when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.**

"**I won't let you in," he puffed. "Norbert's at a tricky stage – noth-in' I can't handle."**

**When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg.**

"You have to feel for Hagrid though," Tonks said with a sympathetic look. She knew just how much he loved his pets.

"**Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot – jus' playin' – he's only a baby, after all."**

**The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. Harry and Hermione walked back to the castle, feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.**

**They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the Entrance Hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall.**

**Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.**

"**He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."**

**From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Harry as though teddy was having his head torn off.**

"**Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"**

"You know, we could ask Charlie if he would take some pictures of Norbert and send them to Hagrid every now and then – just so Hagrid can know how Norbert is doing," said Harry thoughtfully.

Ron and Hermione's faces lit up – they both knew just how much Hagrid missed his dragon.

"That's a wonderful idea, Mr Potter," said professor McGonagall, feeling proud of her lion.

"I'll write him a letter as soon as I can," Ron promised with a smile.

**How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another – even one of Harry's short cuts didn't make the work much easier.**

"**Nearly there!" Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.**

**Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows,**

"It's never bad to be too cautious," Moody said with an approving nod. The people who knew how paranoid Moody was rolled their eyes at the retired Auror.

**staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.**

**Professor McGonagall, in a tartan dressing-gown and a hairnet, had Malfoy by the ear.**

"I'd pay to see that," Sirius said gleefully, forgetting that he was once in the same position as Malfoy was in the book.

"**Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how**_**dare**_**you –"**

"**You don't understand, Professor, Harry Potter's coming – he's got a dragon!"**

"That will only make her angrier," Remus chuckled.

"**What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies!**

"Actually, they're not lies," Harry said cheekily.

**Come on – I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"**

**The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the Cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig.**

"You can jig too?" Ron asked with surprise on his face.

"No, of course not. Didn't the book say it was a sort of jig?" Hermione replied exasperatedly.

"**Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"**

"**Don't," Harry advised her.**

"Because I didn't want people to hear us," Harry defended himself as Hermione boxed him in the arm – she couldn't do it then.

**Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.**

**Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry and Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.**

**At last, Norbert was going … going … gone.**

"Finally! Now quickly get back to your dormitories before McGonagall catches you too," Sirius said.

Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. Sirius won't like what happened next.

**They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon – Malfoy in detention – what could spoil their happiness?**

"You forgot the Invisibility Cloak, didn't you," guessed Remus with a wry smile. By now, whenever Harry was optimistic about a plan of his, something was bound to go wrong. The sheepish smiles the two of them were wearing were answer enough.

**The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.**

"**Well, well, well," he whispered, "we**_**are**_**in trouble."**

**They'd left the Invisibility Cloak on top of the tower.**

"Give me the book, quick, so that I can read on – this is too much of a cliff-hanger to leave it hanging," Sirius said and quickly took the book out of Hermione's hands.


	17. XV The Forbidden Forest

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**XV – The Forbidden Forest**

Sirius grew serious as soon as he read the chapter title. Usually he would start teasing Harry about going to the Forest in his first year, with the tone the last few chapters took, he worried about what would happen. It didn't sound good.

**Things couldn't have been worse.**

"You jinxed yourself again here," Hermione said with a grimace. Harry agreed silently. He really should stop thinking about things like that. Perhaps that would stop his 'jinxing himself' as others dubbed it.

**Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Hermione was trembling. Excuses, alibis and wild cover-up stories chased each other around Harry's brain, each more feeble than the last.**

"I should teach you how to make up a good excuse," Sirius said with a small smile. He still couldn't shake off the worry.

"There is absolutely no need for you to do this," McGonagall argued.

**He couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time. They were cornered. How could they have been so stupid as to forget the Cloak? There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the Invisibility Cloak and they might as well be packing their bags already.**

"Again with your pessimism," Remus commented. "The worst you'll get is a points loss and a detention – Hogwarts doesn't expel students just because they were out of bed in the night and professor McGonagall doesn't know about the dragon."

McGonagall felt bad about what happened. Now that she thought about it, she punished the kids for helping out a friend and took an enormous amount of points and gave them detention in the Forbidden Forest. And on top of that – from the sound of the chapter title something bad would happen there. She suddenly felt guilty.

**Had Harry thought that things couldn't have been worse? He was wrong. When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.**

"Sorry about that," Harry apologized to his friend. He never meant for him to get in trouble too.

"It's okay," Neville replied with a smile.

"**Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other two. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag.-" Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the three of them.**

"There's a spell for that," Sirius said, making McGonagall scowl at him.

"**I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr Filch says you were up the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. **_**Explain yourselves**_**."**

**It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher's question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue.**

"**I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall.**

"I don't think you do," Snape said with a smirk. McGonagall didn't reply.

"**It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"**

**Harry caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt.**

"I got your message," Neville assured his friend.

**Poor, blundering Neville – Harry knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.**

"You were really brave, you know," Hermione praised the Gryffindor in question. Neville flushed and smiled shyly.

"**I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before!**

"Minnie, you forgot all about us! How could you!" wailed Sirius, clutching the part of his shirt near his heart with his hand.

**You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense. As for you, Mr Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All three of you will receive detentions – yes, you too, Mr Longbottom, **_**nothing**_** gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous – and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."**

"_**Fifty**_**?" Harry gasped –**

"Not a good idea right now cub," Remus muttered. He knew how McGonagall worked. From personal experience.

**they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match.**

"**Fifty points each," said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long pointed nose.**

"Professor McGonagall, was that really necessary?" Tonks asked seriously.

"**Professor – please –"**

"**You **_**can't **_**–"**

"**Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."**

"Another lie," Sirius said – he still remembered the reaming he got from his Transfiguration professor after the 'Remus and Snape' debacle.

**A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup. Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach. How could they ever make up for this?**

"Don't worry, Harry – you'll make up for it," Ron grinned, remembering the points Dumbledore had given them at the end of the first year. Instead of grinning back, Harry frowned. Now that he thought about it, he felt that Dumbledore was a bit unfair about the whole points giving thing. The Slytherins won fair and square and the Headmaster decided to award them points for something they shouldn't have been doing in the first place. And after he announced the winner as well. The frown became more pronounced.

Snape noticed the frown and remembered the end of the first year as well. He could still remember some first years come crying to him because they felt that the Gryffindor win was unfair. He had to agree with them and had argued with Dumbledore about it, but Dumbledore didn't change his mind and ignored it. McGonagall didn't even notice and proudly took the cup to her office. He wondered how the others would react to it. From what he saw of Harry frowning, the boy, he thought that he disliked what happened as much as he did.

**Harry didn't sleep all night. He could hear Neville sobbing into his pillow for what seemed like hours. Harry couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him. He knew Neville, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out what they'd done?**

"Nothing good," Neville mumbled, remembering the bullying that occurred after that. McGonagall, having heard him, felt even worse.

**At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hour-glasses that recorded the house points next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first-years.**

**From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated.**

"I think that if I were a normal student I wouldn't have been that ostracized," Harry said, hating his fame even more than before. Snape silently agreed. While Harry was famous for something he only vaguely remembered, the fame wasn't a good thing. And it took him this long to realize it.

**Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"**

**Only Ron stood by him.**

"Of course I did, he's my best mate," Ron said seriously.

"**They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."**

"**They've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they?" said Harry miserably.**

"**Well – no," Ron admitted.**

"They did lose about fifty though," Ron remembered the Howler his mum put together in the twins second year – the year before he went to Hogwarts.

**It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on.**

"And how long did that last?" Tonks asked with a smirk.

"Until the end of the year," Harry admitted sheepishly.

**He'd had it with sneaking around and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself that he went to Wood and offered to resign from the Quidditch team.**

"That won't do you any good – you'd be able to get a few of those points back if you won the next game," Remus shook his head. Harry agreed, but knew that even if Dumbledore didn't give them all those points at the end of the year that they wouldn't have won – he was unconscious for the Quidditch match after all.

"**Resign?" Wood thundered. "What good'll that do? How are we going to get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?"**

**But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him "the Seeker".**

"Not Fred and George, but the others," Harry hurried to protect his twin friends. McGonagall was still frowning at that. She didn't like how her lions were treating each other. She ought to have a talk with them about it. Perhaps she should even talk to them more – she knew that Pomona organized a house bonding party every Friday and Flitwick had trivia competitions in his house which he supervised. The Transfiguration professor didn't know what Snape did with his students, but suddenly she felt ashamed about not being there for her lions when they needed her. If she was there for them, then perhaps they would feel comfortable coming to her with their problems.

How many times had Pomona and Filius told her about first years crying their eyes out with homesickness and how they comforted them. She never did that. All she did was get angry when someone woke her up in the middle of the night. She remembered the night Sirius tried to kill Pettigrew with a knife and how angry she was that they disturbed her sleep – instead of getting worried about how they were. She even punished Mr Longbottom for losing his password sheet. Of course, now she knew that it was Sirius who stole them, but that didn't make her feel any better.

**Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren't as well known, but nobody would speak to them either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence.**

"Hermione, no offence," Tonks started, "but if you raised your hand and told the professors the answers, you would have won a lot of those points back."

Hermione looked stricken.

**Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away. All the revision he had to do kept his mind off his misery. He, Ron and Hermione kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells off by heart, memorise the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions …**

"Ron probably never studied so quietly again," Harry mused, making Ron roll his eyes at his friend.

**Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry's new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern him was put to an unexpected test. Walking back from the library on his own one afternoon, he heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead. As he drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.**

"What did he say?" asked a concerned Sirius.

"If you read on, you would know," quipped Harry and grinned at the look he received from his godfather.

"**No – no – not again, please –"**

**It sounded as though someone was threatening him.**

"Yeah, Voldemort," Harry murmured to himself with a scowl.

**Harry moved closer.**

"**All right – all right –" he heard Quirrell sob.**

**Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom, straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Harry didn't think Quirrell had even noticed him. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, but a door stood ajar at the other end. Harry was halfway towards it before he remembered what he'd promised himself about not meddling.**

"Yeah, Harry – how could you forget about that?" Ron teased.

**All the same, he'd have gambled twelve Philosopher's Stones that Snape had just left the room,**

"Again, don't bet on anything Harry – or I'll take you up on one of your bets one of these days," Ron continued teasing him.

**and from what Harry had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step**

"Can you imagine Snape walking with a spring?" Tonks joked. It earned her a Snape scowl #25 – the one that said 'If you continue in this vein, I shall have to kill you'.

– **Quirrell seemed to have given in at last.**

**Harry went back to the library, where Hermione was testing Ron on Astronomy. Harry told them what he'd heard.**

"**Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell –"**

"**There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.**

"**Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here, telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog.**

"I took them out of the library. I didn't want anyone to find out about Fluffy, even by chance," said Dumbledore with a wink.

"Not that it helped," he twinkled at Harry and his friends.

**So what do we do, Harry?"**

**The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Hermione answered before Harry could.**

"**Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."**

"I do have to wonder why you didn't go to a professor with your worries, Harry," Remus said thoughtfully. Harry remained quiet.

"**But we've got no proof!" said Harry. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Hallowe'en and that he was nowhere near the third floor – who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked. Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining."**

"When you put it that way," Tonks sighed.

"I would have believed you, Harry," Dumbledore said sadly. Harry felt ashamed for a brief moment.

**Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn't.**

"**If we just do a bit of poking around –"**

"**No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough poking around."**

**He pulled a map of Jupiter towards him and started to learn the names of its moons.**

**The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Hermione and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:**

_**Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr Filch in the Entrance Hall.**_

_**Prof. M. McGonagall**_

"Who decided to send eleven-year-olds on a detention to the Forbidden Forest at eleven o'clock in the evening?" asked an angry Tonks. "You have never sent students to the Forbidden Forest for a detention before!"

McGonagall and Snape looked at Dumbledore. It _was_ his decision after all.

"You're planning something, aren't you," Tonks said shrewdly as she frowned at the Headmaster.

Sirius felt angry on behalf of his godson. If Dumbledore's plan got Harry hurt…

**Harry had forgotten they still had detentions to do in the furore over the points they'd lost. He half expected Hermione to complain that this was a whole night of revision lost,**

"Normally, I would have complained like that," Hermione said with a chagrined smile.

**but she didn't say a word. Like Harry, she felt they deserved what they'd got.**

**At eleven o'clock that night they said goodbye to Ron in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there – and so was Malfoy. Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had got a detention, too.**

"**Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he continued, leering at them. "Oh yes … hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me … It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out … hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well-oiled in case they're ever needed …**

"You need to have a talk with Argus, Albus," McGonagall said sternly. She couldn't let that kind of behaviour towards her students go on. Dumbledore nodded in agreement.

**Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."**

**They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible, or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.**

"I bet he gets off on thinking of various punishments he could inflict on students," said Tonks disgustedly.

"Not in front of the children," McGonagall exclaimed scandalized.

"Sorry," apologized a contrite Tonks, to Remus' amusement.

**The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.**

"**Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."**

"At least you're having your detention with Hagrid," Remus said relieved, but grew worried again after seeing the look on Harry's face.

**Harry's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad.**

"Harry, I prefer it if you're pessimistic," Hermione said groaning. "Then nothing goes wrong."

**His relief must have showed in his face, because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf? Well, think again, boy – it's into the Forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."**

**At this, Neville let out a little moan and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.**

"**The Forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual.**

"**We can't go in there at night – there's all sorts of things in there – werewolves, I heard."**

"Was it a full moon?" asked Remus in concern. Harry shook his head.

**Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.**

"**That's your lookout, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"**

"Evil old git," Tonks sneered.

**Hagrid came striding towards them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.**

"**Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?"**

"**I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all."**

"**That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that.**

"No, it's not," Remus agreed.

**Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."**

"**I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back towards the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.**

**Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.**

"**I'm not going in that Forest," he said, and Harry was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.**

"Of course, baby Malfoy never had to do anything by himself or go anywhere he didn't want to," Tonks said sarcastically.

"**Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."**

"**But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be writing lines or something. If my father knew I was doing this, he'd –"**

"If my father knew this, if my father knew that… does he do anything without mentioning his father?" said and angry Tonks. She really hated her relatives.

"No, he doesn't," Ron said with a smirk.

"– **tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Writin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"**

**Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously but then dropped his gaze.**

"Go Hagrid!" Tonks cheered.

"**Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."**

**He led them to the very edge of the Forest. Holding his lamp up high he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the Forest.**

"**Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood.**

"Unicorn blood?" whispered Snape. He had no idea what went on in the Forest that night. Hagrid never mentioned a unicorn. And for it to bleed it meant that something faster than a unicorn attacked it. And the kids were going to find the hurt unicorn when whatever creature hurt it could still be in the Forest…

"Minerva, are you mental? Sending the children to the Forest when they aren't even supposed to be there – the creature that hurt that unicorn could still be there!" he burst out. McGonagall bristled. How was she supposed to know that's what they were doing in the Forbidden Forest.

"Hagrid never mentioned a hurt unicorn, he just requested them for help," she defended herself and glared at Dumbledore. He was the one to suggest that she send the four first years to help him.

**There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."**

"**And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy unable to keep the fear out of his voice.**

"Or if we find it," Harry murmured to himself. Sirius heard him and grew even more worried. He wanted to panic and hug Harry to himself to reassure himself that he was alright, but he stopped himself from doing so. He needed to be strong for his godson and panicking and ranting wouldn't help things.

_Oh Merlin,_ he thought to himself. _I need to grow up_…

"**There's nothin' that lives in the Forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions.**

"That's even crazier – to let two kids go on their own… what was he thinking?" Remus suddenly burst out. He was going crazy with worrying about what was going to happen. From the expressions on the faces of the three teenagers that were in the Forest that night, nothing good came out of it and with whatever was in the Forest it was incredibly dangerous to go anywhere alone – and Hagrid sent them to go alone…

**There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggering around since last night at least."**

"**I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.**

"**All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville an' Fang'll go the other.**

"I don't think this will go over well," Tonks murmured. Neville couldn't agree more.

**Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practise now – that's it – an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh – so, be careful – let's go."**

**The Forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path and Harry, Hermione and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Neville and Fang took the right.**

**They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground. Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver blue blood on the fallen leaves.**

**Harry saw that Hagrid looked very worried.**

"**Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.**

"They're not fast enough," was the only thing Remus.

"**Not fast enough," said Hagrid. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."**

"Me neither," Tonks agreed.

**They walked past a mossy tree-stump. Harry could hear running water; there must be a stream somewhere close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.**

"**You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt an' then we'll be able ter – GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"**

"What now?" asked a tired McGonagall. If so many things happened to Harry in just his first year, she dreaded to read about his other years at Hogwarts.

**Hagrid seized Harry and Hermione and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. He pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The three of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby: it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground.**

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look. They knew it was Quirrell with Voldemort now and they felt relieved that they made it out of the Forest alive and unharmed.

**Hagrid was squinting up the dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.**

"**I knew it," he murmured. "There's summat in here that shouldn' be."**

"**A werewolf?" Harry suggested.**

"Would you give it a rest with werewolves?" Sirius asked, feeling a bit irritated on Remus' behalf. He knew his friend didn't want his condition known – especially Tonks, if Sirius was right by guessing that Remus liked the young girl.

"Sorry," Harry apologized not looking at anything.

"**That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," said Hagrid grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful, now."**

**They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.**

"**Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself – I'm armed!"**

**And into the clearing came – was it a man, or a horse? To the waist, a man, with red hair and beard, but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped.**

"Oh, you saw a centaur," said Tonks impressed. She never saw a live centaur before.

"**Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid in relief. "How are yeh?"**

**He walked forward and shook the centaur's hand.**

"**Good evening to you, Hagrid," said Ronan. He had a deep, sorrowful voice. "Were you going to shoot me?"**

"**Can't be too careful, Ronan," said Hagrid, patting his crossbow. "There's summat bad loose in this Forest. This is Harry Potter an' Hermione Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. an' this is Ronan, you two. He's a centaur."**

"I think they'd noticed," Sirius said cleverly.

"**We'd noticed," said Hermione faintly.**

"Note to self: add Hermione to the list of people Sirius parroted," Harry said, miming writing Hermione's name on an invisible parchment. Sirius rolled his eyes at the teenager and ignored the sniggering around him.

"**Good evening," said Ronan. "Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?"**

"**Erm –"**

"**A bit," said Hermione timidly.**

"Just a bit?" Sirius teased.

"Shut up," Hermione replied, "I was in awe of seeing a centaur."

"**A bit. Well, that's something," Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."**

"Isn't Mars the planet of War?" asked Tonks – she loved Astronomy when she was at Hogwarts.

"It is," agreed Remus who was also an Astronomy aficionado.

"**Yeah," said Hagrid, glancing up too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt – you seen anything?"**

**Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upwards, then sighed again.**

"**Always the innocent are the first victims," he said.**

"Does that mean what I think it means?" asked a stunned McGonagall. "Will someone die?"

While she gave little on prophecies made by witches and wizards, she knew that the centaurs Saw more and were accurate. This worried her.

It worried everyone in the room. Harry shuddered as he thought that someone else would die because of Voldemort – because in his mind it meant that Voldemort would definitively

"**So it has been for ages past, so it is now."**

"**Yeah," said Hagrid, "but have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"**

"**Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated while Hagrid watched him impatiently. "Unusually bright."**

"Hagrid doesn't take Ronan's warnings seriously I take it," grumbled Sirius.

"**Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home," said Hagrid. "So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"**

**Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, "The Forest hides many secrets."**

**A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and – bodied and wilder-looking than Ronan.**

"**Hullo, Bane," said Hagrid. "All right?"**

"**Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?"**

"**Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen any-thin' odd in here lately? Only there's a unicorn bin injured – would yeh know anythin' about it?"**

"Bet you he's going to say that the Mars is bright tonight as well," chuckled Tonks.

**Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skywards.**

"**Mars is bright tonight," he said simply.**

"See, I told you so," said a smug Tonks.

"No one disagreed with you," Sirius shot back.

"**We've heard," said Hagrid grumpily. "Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."**

**Harry and Hermione followed him out of the clearing, staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.**

"**Never," said Hagrid irritably, "try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy star-gazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."**

"**Are there many of **_**them**_** in here?" asked Hermione.**

"**Oh, a fair few … Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if ever I want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs … they know things … jus' don' let on much."**

"They told us a lot about what we can expect from the future," said a grim Harry.

"**D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" said Harry.**

"**Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns – never heard anythin' like it before."**

**They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking nervously over his shoulder. He had the nasty feeling they were being watched.**

"Good instincts, boy," Moody said frowning. Something was in that Forest tonight that he did not like the sound of. And from the looks of the children that were there that night it was bad news.

**He was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them.**

_Not that he could do much against _Voldemort, Harry thought with a shudder.

**They had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm.**

"**Hagrid! Look! Red sparks, the others are in trouble!"**

"Oh no, what happened?" Tonks said, worried about Neville.

"**You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted. "Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"**

"That was a bad idea," Remus growled protectively. "They heard something moving around the Forest only a few minutes ago and now he's left them alone? What if the thing that attacked the unicorns attacked them while he was gone? They were only first years – they didn't know much magic yet!"

McGonagall and Dumbledore exchanged a look. They would really need to have a talk with Hagrid after the reading was done.

**They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.**

"**You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" whispered Hermione.**

"**I don't care if Malfoy has, but if something's got Neville … It's our fault he's here in the first place."**

Neville smiled.

**The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Harry's seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig.**

"I couldn't hear anything," Hermione admitted.

**What was going on? Where were the others?**

**At last, a great crunching noise announced Hagrid's return. Malfoy, Neville and Fang were with him. Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him for a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks.**

"That idiot," Tonks growled as well. "They were in the Forbidden Forest! Anything could have happened to them."

"**We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups – Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot.**

"And still he won't let them stay together where it's safer," Snape muttered, feeling angry at Hagrid as well. Harry was feeling protective of his friend and wanted to jump to his defence, but he knew that the adults were telling the truth. Hagrid _was_ being irresponsible back then.

**I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we've gotta get this done."**

**So Harry set off into the heart of the Forest with Malfoy and Fang. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the Forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker.**

"You're going to find a dead unicorn, aren't you?" asked a sad Tonks. To imagine that something was killing unicorns was a sad thought indeed. Unicorns were something so pure, and so beautiful. She couldn't imagine why someone would want to kill them.

**There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. Harry could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.**

"**Look –" he murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy.**

**Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.**

**It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead.**

"Poor creature," Tonks whispered. Remus felt the need to put his hands around her shoulders and pull her closer to him. But he didn't act on that need. Instead he awkwardly patted her shoulder.

**Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly white on the dark leaves.**

**Harry had taken one step towards it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered … Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast.**

"Oh no," Tonks muttered again, frightened for Harry and even for Malfoy, though very reluctantly.

**Harry, Malfoy and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, it lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.**

"Drink its blood?" Snape said aghast. He suddenly knew just who was drinking that blood and grew worried for Harry and Draco. If Voldemort was in that clearing, then they were in immense trouble.

"**AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"**

**Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted – so did Fang.**

"And they left you alone," Sirius said angrily while pulling Harry closer to him.

**The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry – unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly towards him – he couldn't move for fear.**

"Now's not the time to freeze, Harry," said Sirius tensely.

**Then a pain pierced his head like he'd never felt before,**

"What? Why did your head hurt?" Remus asked anxiously. He could feel his inner wolf growl protectively over his cub. Whomever it was that caused Harry pain was going to a die a very painful death if the werewolf inside him had anything to say about it. Remus took a calming breath, and pushed the werewolf's thoughts away. He didn't want to lose control with so many people in the room.

**it was as though his scar was on fire – half-blinded, he staggered backwards. He heard hooves behind him, galloping, and something jumped clean over him, charging at the figure.**

"A centaur saved you," Tonks said in a hushed voice, still on the edge of her seat from being worried so much.

"Yeah," Harry replied.

**The pain in Harry's head was so bad he fell to his knees. It took a minute or two to pass.**

"I don't fall on my knees in pain anymore," Harry mused. "I guess I got used to the pain."

"That's not exactly a good thing, you know," Sirius said in an angry voice. No one should get used to being in pain, especially Harry.

**When he looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.**

"Firenze," Dumbledore said with a small smile. He liked this particular centaur the most.

"**Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling Harry to his feet.**

"**Yes – thank you – what was that?"**

**The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar which stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.**

"**You are the Potter boy," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The Forest is not safe at this time – especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way.**

"No way, a centaur let you ride on his back?" Tonks said shocked out of her mind. Centaurs never let anyone ride them.

"**My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Harry could clamber on to his back.**

**There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.**

"**Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have a human on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"**

"**Do you realise who this is?" said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this Forest, the better."**

"**What have you been telling him?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"**

"Centaurs usually don't like humans," said Hermione nervously. She didn't want anything to happen to Harry. However, she remembered that Firenze brought Harry back and that Harry was fine.

**Ronan pawed the ground nervously.**

"**I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he said, in his gloomy voice.**

**Bane kicked his back legs in anger.**

"**For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our Forest!"**

"That's bound to make Firenze angry," Tonks said.

**Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger, so that Harry had to grab his shoulders to stay on.**

"**Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this Forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."**

"That's one brave centaur," Remus breathed. He read about what could happen to Firenze. The herd could cast him out and he would have to leave the Forbidden Forest if he really sided with humans.

**And Firenze whisked around; with Harry clutching on as best he could, they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them.**

**Harry didn't have a clue what was going on.**

"Nothing new here," Ron said, trying to lift the tension in the room.

"**Why's Bane so angry?" he asked. "What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"**

**Firenze slowed to a walk, warned Harry to keep his head bowed in case of low-hanging branches but did not answer Harry's question. They made their way through the trees in silence for so long that Harry thought Firenze didn't want to talk to him any more. They were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.**

"I think he just wanted to get out of the other centaurs' hearing range," Harry said, now that he thought about it.

"**Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"**

"**No," said Harry, startled by the odd question.**

"Not many do," Snape said grimly. Only alchemists, potions masters and those who studied the Dark Arts knew about it.

"**We've only used the horn and tail-hair in Potions."**

"**That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze.**

"It's a monstrous thing to slay anyone," Tonks frowned.

"**Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself and you will have but a half life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."**

**Harry stared at the back of Firenze's head, which was dappled silver in the moonlight.**

"**But who'd be that desperate?" he wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed for ever, death's better, isn't it?"**

"It's Voldemort, isn't it," said Remus in growing horror. "It was Voldemort who drank that unicorn's blood and caused your head to hurt."

Harry only nodded, having come to the same assumption in the book as well.

"**It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else – something that will bring you back to full strength and power – something that will mean you can never die. Mr Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"**

"And what would he say if you didn't know?" Ron couldn't help but ask.

"**The Philosopher's Stone! Of course – the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who –"**

"**Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"**

**It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Harry's heart. Over the rustling of the trees, he seemed to hear once more what Hagrid had told him on the night they had met: "Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."**

"**Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was Vol–"**

"**Harry! Harry, are you all right?"**

"I was quite annoyed when you interrupted us, by the way," Harry felt the need to inform his bushy-haired friend.

**Hermione was running towards them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.**

"**I'm fine," said Harry, hardly knowing what he was saying. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."**

"**This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."**

**Harry slid off his back.**

"**Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."**

"I never got to thank him," Harry mused, relieved that the Forest part of his adventures was over. Of course he would be going after Voldemort in the next chapter and that was bound to make a lot of people worried and angry. Whether they would be angry with him or with Dumbledore, he didn't want to guess.

**He turned and cantered back into the depths of the Forest, leaving Harry shivering behind him.**

**Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to return. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook him awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry began to tell him and Hermione what had happened in the Forest.**

"As would I be," Sirius agreed.

**Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He was still shaking.**

"**Snape wants the stone for Voldemort … and Voldemort's waiting in the Forest … and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich …"**

"Now, if you'd only stop saying Snape's name every second, I'm sure he wouldn't be glaring at you now," Tonks said. And it was true. Snape was glaring at Harry for still thinking it was him.

"**Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them.**

"Not exactly. He had an enchantment put on his name so that every time someone said his name he would know and his Death Eaters could apparate to that location and kill whoever said it. Usually they would kill people fighting against his terrorism," Remus said seriously. They lost many Order members that way.

"It's the reason people started to be afraid of his name and started calling him You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and other monikers like that."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Harry said, feeling kind of stupid. And he thought that people were just afraid to say Voldemort's name because he was so evil.

**Harry wasn't listening.**

"He usually doesn't when you're trying to stop him from saying the name," Hermione said. "And when he's putting two and two together he gets this crazy look in his eyes."

"I do not," Harry protested.

"You kind of do," Ron agreed.

"**Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done … Bane was furious … he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen … They must show that Voldemort's coming back … Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me … I suppose that's written in the stars as well."**

"**Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.**

"**So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off … Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."**

**Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort.**

"**Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you.**

McGonagall suddenly remembered the day when professor Dumbledore left for the Ministry of Magic and that Harry did come to her with his fears about the Philosopher's Stone. She never felt as ashamed as she did now. Harry came and told her about it and she didn't believe him. She swore to herself that she would never turn the boy away again.

Elphinstone would be ashamed of her too.

**Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."**

"You always did hate Divination," Harry chuckled.

**The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over.**

**When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his Invisibility Cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it:**

_**Just in case.**_

"You returned it to him, didn't you," Tonks asked of Dumbledore.

"I did," he replied simply as he watched Sirius pass the book to Remus.


	18. XVI Through the Trapdoor

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**XVI - Through the Trapdoor**

Before Remus could start reading, Ron let out a huge yawn. Looking at the time, Remus was surprised to learn that it was already ten o' clock in the evening. They were so concentrated on reading the book that they didn't notice how time flew.

"Should we take a break so that we can get some sleep?" he asked and wasn't surprised when everyone loudly denied that. It was almost the end of the book and the ending was near – how could they sleep when it was just getting dangerous. He should have expected that. Instead, he started reading.

The moment he read the chapter's title, Sirius drew Harry close.

"You went after the Stone, didn't you," he said, not asked. Harry nodded against his godfather's shoulders. He was expecting to hear the adults scold him for not going to an adult with the information he gained during this chapter and tell him how reckless he was.

**In years to come, Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment.**

"I doubt he would come bursting anyway," Sirius said with a smirk.

"He did it once already," Harry said, remembering the night Voldemort killed his parents. Sirius had nothing to say to that.

**Yet the days crept by and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.**

**It was swelteringly hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written papers. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.**

"I remember I tried to cheat once," Sirius said, "it wasn't pretty."

"They almost failed you as a punishment," Remus replied dryly.

**They had practical exams as well. Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk. Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuff-box – points were given for how pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers. Snape made them all nervous, breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion.**

"Pretty ironic, isn't it," Tonks said with a grin.

**Harry did the best he could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his forehead which had been bothering him ever since his trip into the Forest.**

"You had a headache all through the final exams and you still got such good grades," McGonagall said unbelievingly. She knew just how much of a concentration detriment a headache could be – and Harry still got into the top ten of his year.

**Neville thought Harry had a bad case of exam nerves because Harry couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Harry kept being woken by his old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.**

**Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry had seen in the Forest, or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads, but Ron and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry.**

"Sorry, Harry," Hermione said sincerely.

**The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but he didn't keep visiting them in dreams, and they were so busy with their revision they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape or anyone else might be up to.**

**Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry couldn't help cheering with the rest.**

Sirius couldn't help it either. He hated exams.

"**That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione, as they joined the crowds flocking out into the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."**

"I feel ill talking about it," Ron said with a shudder.

**Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterwards, but Ron said this made him feel ill,**

"Don't repeat yourself, Ron," Sirius joked.

**so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.**

"The squid actually likes the twins," Ron said with a roll of his eyes, as if he couldn't believe it.

"**No more revision," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."**

"Idiot," Hermione said fondly.

**Harry was rubbing his forehead.**

"**I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting – it's happened before, but never as often as this."**

"**Go to Madam Pomfrey" Hermione suggested.**

"It won't help," said Dumbledore sadly.

"**I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning … it means danger's coming …"**

**Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.**

"That's Ron for you," Harry chuckled, not insulted by his best friend's nonchalance at all.

"**Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."**

"So Neville, when are you going to play Quidditch for England?" Sirius had to ask.

"I'm not," Neville replied, rolling his eyes at the older man.

**Harry nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important.**

"What was it?" asked Remus. He felt that they didn't miss anything important.

**When he tried to explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one."**

**Harry was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though. He watched an owl flutter towards the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth.**

"Do you think that was the note for Dumbledore?" asked Hermione.

"Probably," replied Harry to the confusion of others in the room. Remus and Sirius however were getting a sinking feeling in their stomachs.

**Hagrid was the only one who ever sent him letters. Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy … never … but –**

"What?" Tonks said anxiously. She didn't like where Harry's thoughts were going.

**Harry suddenly jumped to his feet.**

"**Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.**

"**I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had gone white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."**

"**Why?" panted Hermione, hurrying to keep up.**

"Yeah, I don't understand it either," Sirius complained.

"**Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket?**

"Now that you mention it, it's very odd," Tonks said frowning.

"You could be a great Auror too," Moody said, impressed by the eleven-year-old Harry's deduction skills.

**How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"**

"**What are you on about?" said Ron, but Harry, sprinting across the grounds towards the Forest, didn't answer.**

**Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.**

"**Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"**

"**Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut across him.**

"**No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"**

"**Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."**

"He was probably in the Hog's Head," Sirius said smartly.

**He saw the three of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.**

"**It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head – that's the pub down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."**

**Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas.**

"**What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"**

"**Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah … he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here … He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after … so I told him … an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon … an' then … I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks …**

"Oh, Hagrid," McGonagall moaned.

**Let's see … yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted … but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home … So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy …"**

"**And did he – did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm.**

"**Well – yeah – how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep –"**

"That's all it takes to calm that dog?" Tonks asked aghast.

**Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.**

"As he should. He told a complete stranger how to get past Fluffy!" said an anxious Remus.

"**I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey – where're yeh goin'?"**

**Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the Entrance Hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.**

"**We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Harry.**

"So you did go tell an adult," Sirius said appreciatively, missing McGonagall's guilty look.

"**Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak – it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk. I just hope Dumbledore believes us. Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"**

"You didn't know where Dumbledore's office was?" asked a dismayed Sirius, who looked like someone just died.

"Don't worry," Harry chuckled slightly. "I find out where it is eventually."

**They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him.**

"**We'll just have to –" Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.**

"**What are you three doing inside?"**

**It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.**

"Oh good, you can tell professor McGonagall," said a relieved Remus.

"**We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely, Harry and Ron thought.**

"**See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"**

**Harry swallowed – now what?**

"**It's sort of secret," he said,**

"Minnie won't like that," Sirius grimaced. He tried it on her once and the detention he got wasn't pretty.

**but he wished at once he hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.**

"**Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly. "He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."**

"**He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"**

"**Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time –"**

"**But this is important."**

"**Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"**

"**Look," said Harry, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor – it's about the Philosopher's Stone –"**

**Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms but she didn't pick them up.**

"Never saw her lose her calm like that before," Tonks grinned, but had a bad feeling about the whole situation.

"**How do you know –?" she spluttered.**

"I haven't seen her splutter either," Remus added to Tonks amusement.

"**Professor, I think – I know – that Sn – that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."**

"Good thing you didn't mention Snape," Tonks said approvingly.

**She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.**

"**Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."**

"Explain to me then why three first years got past the protections, if I'm reading this right," Remus said with a frown. He didn't like where this was going either.

"**But Professor –"**

"**Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."**

"You didn't believe them," Tonks said calmly. Remus looked sideways at the Metamorphmagus. This was going to be good. He wanted to scold McGonagall for not believing the kids either, but felt too much respect for his old Transfiguration professor. Tonks was more out-going and out-spoken than him, so it was a good thing that she had the courage to scold her professor, he though admiringly.

"No, I didn't," admitted a contrite Minerva.

"You could have at least thought about it for a second – he wasn't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone was he?" Tonks started to rant. "I wouldn't be surprised if Harry didn't go to his professors with his problems after this. The Dursleys were a thing on to itself, but here at Hogwarts where he finally approached someone with a problem, he gets rebuffed. And you're supposed to be his Head of House? I haven't heard you being mentioned anywhere but in the classroom and the Great Hall? Don't you go visit your Gryffindors in their common room at all?"

Remus frowned at that. He didn't remember McGonagall coming to their common room either. The only times she came was to give them official notices or to tell someone that their parents were killed once Voldemort started his rise. He exchanged a look with Sirius who nodded in agreement.

"Has anyone come to you with homesickness or did you delegate the duty of comforting first years to your Prefects and Head Girl or Boy too?" continued Tonks, making McGonagall feel even more ashamed of herself. She knew that she should feel a bit insulted at the young girl's rudeness, but what she ranted about was the absolute truth. She wasn't a good Head of House. This made her even more determined to do better and make time for her lions.

Remus, seeing that Tonks started to lose her steam, quickly continued to read before she could remember to rant about something else.

**But they didn't.**

"**It's tonight," said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."**

"They did," commented Dumbledore.

"**But what can we –"**

**Hermione gasped. Harry and Ron wheeled round.**

"It's Snape, isn't it," said Sirius wryly.

**Snape was standing there.**

"**Good afternoon," he said smoothly.**

**They stared at him.**

"**You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.**

"**We were –" Harry began, without any idea what he was going to say.**

"**You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can they?"**

**Harry flushed. They turned to go back outside, but Snape called them back.**

"**Be warned, Potter – any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."**

"You know, I think he tried to warn you in-between all the insults," Tonks said with a grim smile.

**He strode off in the direction of the staff room.**

**Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to the others.**

"**Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape – wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that."**

"**Why me?"**

"**It's obvious," said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know." He put on a high voice, "Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong …"**

"You know, I think it could actually work," Remus said. "Good plan, Ron."

"**Oh, shut up," said Hermione, but she agreed to go and watch out for Snape.**

"**And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor," Harry told Ron. "Come on."**

"That's a bad plan, McGonagall will surely go check that you're not sneaking around up there," Sirius shook his head.

**But that part of the plan didn't work.**

"Well, Harry's plans are generally bad, so no surprises there," Ron said with a snigger. Harry chucked a pillow at him with dead accuracy.

**No sooner had they reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up again, and this time, she lost her temper.**

"She's a temperamental one, she is," Sirius teased.

"**I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" she stormed.**

"Actually, they probably are," Tonks said with a roll of her eyes.

"**Enough of this nonsense! If I hear you've come anywhere near here again, I'll take another fifty points from Gryffindor! Yes, Weasley, from my own house!"**

**Harry and Ron went back to the common room. Harry had just said, "At least Hermione's on Snape's tail," when the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Hermione came in.**

"**I'm sorry, Harry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I've only just got away. I don't know where Snape went."**

"**Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said.**

**The other two stared at him. He was pale and his eyes were glittering.**

"That's when he's at his best," Hermione said.

"**I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."**

"**You're mad!" said Ron.**

"We know that," Sirius said with a ruffle to Harry's hair.

"**You can't!" said Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"**

"You still haven't sorted out your priorities, have you?" Sirius tried to joke, but couldn't.

"**SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts!**

"That's a good guess," Moody said.

**Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the House Cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there. It's only dying a bit later than I would have done, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"**

**He glared at them.**

"**You're right, Harry" said Hermione in a small voice.**

"**I'll use the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got it back."**

"I don't think it's lucky," said Tonks with a glare towards Dumbledore.

"**But will it cover all three of us?" said Ron.**

"**All – all three of us?"**

"You didn't expect them to let you go alone, did you?" Sirius asked in shock.

"I wasn't used to having such good friends," Harry murmured.

"**Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"**

"**Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful …"**

"**But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too."**

"**Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam.**

"Wow, Hermione," Tonks said impressed. She never managed more than eighty-five per cent.

"And she got about three hundred on her Muggle Studies this year," said Ron proudly.

"Now you're just exaggerating," Tonks rolled her eyes.

"**They're not throwing me out after that."**

**After dinner the three of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered them; none of the Gryffindors had anything to say to Harry any more, after all. This was the first night he hadn't been upset by it. Hermione was skimming through all her notes, hoping to come across one of the enchantments they were about to try and break. Harry and Ron didn't talk much. Both of them were thinking about what they were about to do.**

**Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.**

"**Better get the Cloak," Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs to their dark dormitory. He pulled out the Cloak and then his eyes fell on the flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas. He pocketed it to use on Fluffy – he didn't feel much like singing.**

"Not like you can sing well either," Ron teased.

"At least I don't sound like Percy in the bathroom," Harry retorted smartly having heard Percy's singing at the Burrow once or twice last summer.

"True," Ron acquiesced.

**He ran back down to the common room.**

"**We'd better put the Cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three of us – if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own–"**

"**What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room.**

**Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he'd been making another bid for freedom.**

"I'm sorry for keeping you," Neville apologized sincerely. If he knew what they were going to do he would have tried to help them.

"No worries, Neville," Harry replied with a reassuring smile.

"**Nothing, Neville, nothing," said Harry, hurriedly putting the Cloak behind his back.**

**Neville stared at their guilty faces.**

"**You're going out again," he said.**

"**No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"**

**Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn't afford to waste any more time, Snape might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep.**

"**You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."**

"**You don't understand," said Harry, "this is important."**

**But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do something desperate.**

"**I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll – I'll fight you!"**

"**Neville," Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot –"**

"Sorry for calling you that," Ron apologized. Neville just shook the apology off.

"**Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. "I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"**

"**Yes, but not to us," said Ron in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."**

**He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the toad, who leapt out of sight.**

"**Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"**

**Harry turned to Hermione.**

"They usually do that," Neville joked.

"_**Do something,**_**" he said desperately.**

**Hermione stepped forward.**

"**Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."**

**She raised her wand.**

"_**Petrificus Totalus!**_**" she cried, pointing it at Neville.**

"Percy took the spell off me when he was doing his rounds about fifteen minutes later," Neville told them to try and reassure them that he wasn't petrified for long.

**Neville's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board.**

**Hermione ran to turn him over. Neville's jaws were jammed together so he couldn't speak. Only his eyes were moving, looking at them in horror.**

"**What've you done to him?" Harry whispered.**

"**It's the full Body-Bind," said Hermione miserably. "Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."**

"**We had to, Neville, no time to explain," said Harry.**

"**You'll understand later, Neville," said Ron, as they stepped over him and pulled on the Invisibility Cloak.**

"I do, so don't look so miserable anymore," Neville said. And indeed, the trio was looking miserable at having done that to Neville. The worst was Hermione who actually put that spell on him.

**But leaving Neville lying motionless on the floor didn't feel like a very good omen. In their nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them.**

**At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs Norris skulking near the top.**

"**Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Ron whispered in Harry's ear, but Harry shook his head. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs Norris turned her lamp-like eyes on them, but didn't do anything.**

**They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip.**

"Oh no, not Peeves," Tonks moaned anxiously.

"**Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed towards him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"**

**He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.**

"**Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."**

**Harry had a sudden idea.**

"**Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."**

"That… was brilliant," Sirius said gobsmacked.

**Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs.**

"**So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr Baron, sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake – I didn't see you – of course I didn't, you're invisible – forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."**

"I've never seen Peeves so humble before," Remus commented with a mischievous grin, though it was a feeble one over his nervousness.

"**I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry. "Stay away from this place tonight."**

"**I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you."**

**And he scooted off.**

"_**Brilliant**_**, Harry!" whispered Ron.**

**A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor – and the door was already ajar.**

"Oh no, you're too late," Tonks said worriedly.

"**Well, there you are," Harry said quietly. "Snape's already got past Fluffy."**

**Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them. Underneath the Cloak, Harry turned to the other two.**

"**If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the Cloak, I won't need it now."**

"**Don't be stupid," said Ron.**

"**We're coming," said Hermione.**

**Harry pushed the door open.**

**As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.**

"**What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.**

"**Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."**

"I doubt Snape would be seen with a harp," laughed an anxious Tonks. Snape looked repulsed at the mere mention of the instrument. He preferred the Piano.

"**It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes …"**

**He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased – it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.**

"Good, now it won't attack you," said Sirius, unconsciously pulling Harry closer to him.

"**Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they slipped out of the Cloak and crept towards the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.**

"**I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Hermione?"**

"Such a gentlemanly act, Ron," Tonks said shaking her head at the teenager.

"**No, I don't!"**

"**All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.**

"**What can you see?" Hermione said anxiously.**

"**Nothing – just black – there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."**

"And what if there's nothing but stone under there?" Remus asked frowningly.

"We'd become pancakes," replied Harry, trying to ease the tension in the room with ill results.

**Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at himself.**

"**You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."**

**Harry handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled and twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.**

"And she actually played it. I think it was a lullaby," Harry said, trying to remember its tune.

"It was Brahms' Lullaby," Hermione told him.

**Harry climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom.**

**He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"**

"**Right," said Ron.**

"**See you in a minute, I hope …"**

"That didn't really reassure me, you know," Ron informed Harry. Harry only shrugged.

**And Harry let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and –**

**FLUMP With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft.**

"Phew," Sirius said in relief as he started breathing again. He was worried that there would be nothing at the bottom and that Harry really would become a pancake. But then again, the boy was sitting cuddled up to him and was alive and kicking.

**He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.**

"**It's OK!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"**

**Ron followed straight away. He landed sprawled next to Harry.**

"**What's this stuff?" were his first words.**

"**Dunno, sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!"**

**The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side.**

"**We must be miles under the school," she said.**

"**Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.**

"**Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"**

"What plant is it?" Tonks asked worried.

**She leapt up and struggled towards a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snake-like tendrils around her ankles.**

"It's a Devil's Snare," cried Neville suddenly as he leaned forward in fear.

"Quick, light a fire or do any kind of light spell you can before it squeezes you to death!" he continued anxiously.

**As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.**

**Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Now she watched in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.**

"**Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is – it's Devil's Snare!"**

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," Tonks said heartily.

"**Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck.**

"**Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione.**

"**Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.**

"**Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare … What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp –"**

"**So light a fire!" Harry choked.**

"**Yes – of course – but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.**

"Have you gone mad?" cried Sirius due to his anxiety. "Are you a witch or not?"

"**HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"**

Even if the whole room was frightened and nervous for the three kids, they couldn't help but smile at Sirius and Ron.

"**Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unravelled itself from their bodies and they were able to pull free.**

"Thank Merlin," sighed Tonks in relief as she felt herself relax a bit. She got quite attached to the three kids in the span of the day. She was surprised at that. _Was it really only a day since they started reading the book?_ she thought to herself. It felt like days.

"**Lucky you pay attention in Herbology Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.**

"**Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis – 'there's no wood', honestly."**

"You sounded like Hermione there, mate," Harry chuckled.

"**This way" said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway which was the only way on.**

**All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downwards and Harry was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. If they met a dragon, a fully grown dragon – Norbert had been bad enough …3**

"No, no dragons," Dumbledore said with a twitch to his beard, but quietened again after a glare Remus and Sirius sent him. They were suspecting that Dumbledore left the school because of a secret plan of his and left Harry to fight Voldemort alone. They were also suspecting that it was Voldemort Harry would meet at the end of these trials.

"One protection down," Moody said with a frown at McGonagall who had, earlier in the chapter, doubted that three first years could get past the protections the other professors set up. He was surprised that the Devil's Snare was the first protection – it was a plant that anyone knew how to get rid of – they learnt about it in their first year.

"**Can you hear something?" Ron whispered.**

**Harry listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.**

"**Do you think it's a ghost?"**

"**I don't know … sounds like wings to me."**

"You have good ears," McGonagall breathed.

"**There's light ahead – I can see something moving."**

**They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy, wooden door.**

"**Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron.**

"**Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once … Well, there's nothing for it … I'll run."**

"Good thinking," Moody said again. He was impressed by young Harry's thinking. He remembered Granger and Weasley mentioning that Potter was good with thinking on his feet and now he could see it in action. Or read about it anyway.

**He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second, but nothing happened. He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked.**

**The other two followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora Charm.**

"**Now what?" said Ron.**

"**These birds … they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.**

**They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering – glittering?**

"**They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly, "they're keys! Winged keys – look carefully. So that must mean …"**

"Wow, you noticed that even with wearing glasses," Tonks said. She was getting more impressed by the second. _And _he was the youngest Seeker in a century.

**he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "… Yes – look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"**

"This is getting suspiciously like these so-called protections were meant for Harry and his friends," Tonks said through clenched teeth as she also glared at Dumbledore.

"First the Devil's Snare – everyone knows how to fight one since we learn about it in our first year," she started. "And then flying which is Harry's forte. What will be next? Chess for Ron?"

McGonagall looked startled at that. Now that she mentioned it… she looked suspiciously at Dumbledore too. He was the one to suggest all the trials. Did he plan for Harry and his friends to go after the Stone after all? She couldn't believe that her mentor would do such a thing.

Dumbledore said nothing.

"**But there are **_**hundreds**_** of them!"**

**Ron examined the lock on the door.**

"**We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one – probably silver, like the handle."**

**They seized a broomstick each and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.**

**Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't. After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.**

"**That one!" he called to the others. "That big one – there – no, there – with bright blue wings – the feathers are all crumpled on one side."**

"Someone already caught it," Remus muttered.

**Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling and nearly fell off his broom.**

"You're not Seeker material then," Sirius chuckled nervously.

"I want to be a Keeper," Ron replied. "I'll try out next year. Wood left and the position is empty."

"**We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above – Hermione, stay below and stop it going down – and I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"**

**Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upwards, the key dodged them both and Harry streaked after it; it sped towards the wall, Harry leant forward and with a nasty crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand. Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber.**

Tonks and Sirius cheered as well.

**They landed quickly and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned – it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.**

"**Ready?" Harry asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open.**

**The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.**

**They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard,**

"Dumbledore, don't tell me that you really did plan for Harry going down there," Remus suddenly growled angrily. For Dumbledore to deliberately send Harry into danger when he was only an eleven-year-old boy was inexcusable!

This caught Sirius' attention and he growled at an uncomfortable Dumbledore as well. If Dumbledore's 'plan' hurt Harry…

**behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly – the towering white chessmen had no faces.**

"**Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.**

"**It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."**

**Behind the white pieces they could see another door.**

"**How?" said Hermione nervously.**

"**I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."**

"Good thing Ron's good at chess," Neville said tremulously. He didn't like the angry air in the room.

**He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.**

"**Do we – er – have to join you to get across?"**

**The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two.**

"**This wants thinking about …" he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of three of the black pieces …"**

**Harry and Hermione stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you are that good at chess –"**

"**We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."**

"**Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle."**

"**What about you?"**

"**I'm going to be a knight," said Ron.**

"That's your favourite chess piece," said Harry with a small smile.

"You're just missing the shining armour," Tonks teased.

**The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board leaving three empty squares which Harry, Ron and Hermione took.**

"**White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes … look …"**

**A white pawn had moved forward two squares.**

**Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Harry's knees were trembling. What if they lost?**

"Of course we're not going to lose," Ron exclaimed. "Especially now that your pessimism struck again."

Harry rolled his eyes.

"**Harry – move diagonally four squares to the right."**

**Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, face down.**

"**Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."**

**Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Harry and Hermione were in danger. He himself darted around the board taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.**

"I have to play you sometime," Tonks said. She wasn't half-bad at chess. Snape silently agreed with her, but didn't say it out loud. He still remembered how McGonagall bragged about Mr Weasley defeating her chessboard. She was one of the best chess players he ever knew and for young Mr Weasley to defeat her…

"**We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think – let me think …"**

**The white queen turned her blank face towards him.**

"**Yes …" said Ron softly, "it's the only way … I've got to be taken."**

"You were really brave, you know," Hermione praised him with a small blush to her cheeks. Ron's ears went pink as he straightened his back.

"**NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.**

"**That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me – that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"**

"**But –"**

"**Do you want to stop Snape or not?"**

"**Ron –"**

"**Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"**

**There was nothing else for it.**

"You can be so stubborn sometimes," Harry grumbled.

"Just sometimes?" Hermione asked, trying to lift the mood.

"**Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go – now, don't hang around once you've won."**

**He stepped forward and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard around the head with her stone arm and he crashed to the floor – Hermione screamed but stayed on her square – the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out.**

"I was fine, just a few bruises," Ron said to Tonks when she looked at him in concern.

**Shaking, Harry moved three spaces to the left.**

**The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look back at Ron, Harry and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway.**

"Good game, Ron," said Remus shakily.

"**What if he's –?"**

"**He'll be all right," said Harry, trying to convince himself. "What do you reckon's next?"**

"**We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare – Flitwick must've put charms on the keys – McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive – that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's …"**

**They had reached another door.**

"**All right?" Harry whispered.**

"**Go on."**

**Harry pushed it open.**

**A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making both of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.**

"We were lucky," Harry said quietly. "I don't know how we would have defeated the troll otherwise."

Sirius pulled Harry even closer to him.

"**I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered, as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."**

**He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next – but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.**

"**Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"**

**They stepped over the threshold and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards. They were trapped.**

"**Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it:**

_**Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,**_

_**Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,**_

"Oh, it's a logic puzzle," said Tonks interestedly.

_**One among us seven will let you move ahead,**_

_**Another will transport the drinker back instead,**_

_**Two among our number hold only nettle wine,**_

_**Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.**_

_**Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,**_

_**To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:**_

_**First, however slyly the poison tries to hide**_

_**You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;**_

_**Second, different are those who stand at either end,**_

_**But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;**_

_**Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,**_

_**Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;**_

_**Fourth, the second left and the second on the right**_

_**Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.**_

"And again, the protection fell right into Hermione's intelligent lap," Remus growled again.

**Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing.**

"_**Brilliant**_**," said Hermione. "This isn't magic – it's logic – a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here for ever."**

"Too true," Sirius said with a small smile.

"**But so will we, won't we?"**

"**Of course not," said Hermione. "Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire and one will get us back through the purple."**

"**But how do we know which to drink?"**

"**Give me a minute."**

"It actually took her about three," Harry said proudly. Snape was impressed against his will. The girl wasn't just book-smart – she had good logic skills. It set a nice contrast to Weasley's strategic and Harry's instinctual mind. They really were a good team.

**Hermione read the paper several times. Then she walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them. At last, she clapped her hands.**

"**Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire – towards the Stone."**

"Correct, Miss Granger," Snape said, praising her for the first time.

**Harry looked at the tiny bottle.**

"**There's only enough there for one of us," he said. "That's hardly one swallow."**

**They looked at each other.**

"You're going in alone, aren't you," said Tonks rhetorically.

"**Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"**

**Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.**

"**You drink that," said Harry. "No, listen – get back and get Ron – grab brooms from the flying-key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy – go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him really."**

"No, you are not," said Snape with a smirk. Harry just rolled his eyes at him.

"**But Harry – what if You-Know-Who's with him?"**

"**Well – I was lucky once, wasn't I?" said Harry, pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."**

"You do have extraordinary luck when it comes to him," Ron murmured, remembering last year.

**Hermione's lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him.**

"**Hermione!"**

"**Harry – you're a great wizard, you know."**

"**I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.**

"No, you are better," Hermione said seriously.

"**Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things – friendship and bravery and – oh Harry – be careful!"**

"**You drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"**

"**Positive," said Hermione. She took a long drink from the round bottle at the end and shuddered.**

"**It's not poison?" said Harry anxiously.**

"**No – but it's like ice."**

"**Quick, go, before it wears off."**

"**Good luck – take care –"**

"**GO!"**

**Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire.**

**Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames.**

Harry's ribs were beginning to crack from the pressure Sirius was putting on them from his bear hug, but he didn't say it aloud. Sirius needed it to reassure himself that Harry was alright and right there with him.

"**Here I come," he said and he drained the little bottle in one gulp.**

**It was indeed as though ice was flooding his body. He put the bottle down and walked forward; he braced himself, saw the black flames licking his body but couldn't feel them – for a moment he could see nothing but dark fire – then he was on the other side, in the last chamber.**

**There was already someone there – but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.**

"Another cliff-hanger," moaned a panicky Sirius as Remus gave Neville the book. Neville gulped and started reading.


	19. XVII The Man With Two Faces

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JK Rowling, I own nothing. Writing in bold  
comes directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

**XVII - The Man with Two Faces**

**It was Quirrell.**

"We were kind of expecting it to be him, what with your reaction," Remus said trying to stay calm.

It wasn't working.

"_**You!**_**" gasped Harry.**

"But it must have been quite a shock for you – because you were so sure it would be Severus," Remus continued. Harry nodded uncomfortably. He didn't know how to apologize to his Potions professor for doubting him. Of course, Snape didn't make it any easier on him by being a git throughout his first year.

**Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.**

"Damn that faker," Sirius growled angrily.

"Language, Sirius," Tonks said with a frown. She was nervous enough as it was and she did her best not to cuss like an old sailor – as she was used to. She was around kids after all and she didn't want them to hear her potty mouth.

"**Me," he said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter."**

"**But I thought – Snape –"**

"You're still on about that?" Remus asked, shaking his head.

"**Severus?" Quirrell laughed and it wasn't his usual quivering treble, either, but cold and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he?**

"He does," Sirius agreed, earning himself a Snape scowl #31 – the one that said 'I don't find what you just said amusing at all. Desist. Now.'

**So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat.**

"Swooping around like an overgrown bat," Sirius gave out a short bark-like laugh, though there wasn't a speck of amusement in it. It was dark and concerned. "Shame that he's a bad guy, I would quite like him if he wasn't… Wait, no I wouldn't."

**Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"**

"When you put it like that," Tonks murmured.

**Harry couldn't take it in. This couldn't be true, it couldn't.**

"**But Snape tried to kill me!"**

"**No, no, no. I tried to kill you.**

"At least he's honest about it," Harry murmured.

**Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter-curse, trying to save you."**

"**Snape was trying to **_**save**_** me?"**

"_Always_ with the tone of surprise," Snape murmured darkly. He might act like a git to his students, but that didn't mean he didn't care about their welfare.

"**Of course," said Quirrell coolly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again.**

"I don't think I ever said thank you for saving my life before, professor," Harry said quietly, bringing the professor's attention onto him. Snape had to agree – it was his godfather that thanked him when they were reading the Quidditch chapter.

"Don't mention it," he grumped, feeling a bit embarrassed about having all the eyes in the room on him.

**Funny, really … he needn't have bothered.**

_No, I needn't have,_ Snape thought with a small scowl. _Because Dumbledore showed up._

**I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor winning, he **_**did**_** make himself unpopular …**

McGonagall looked apologetic. She was one of the people that harped on the young professor about it non-stop.

**and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."**

"No you won't," Sirius growled again. He was growling a lot in this chapter, Harry noted.

**Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry.**

"Wandless and wordless magic," Tonks breathed anxiously. She didn't know how Harry came out of that fight alive and yet there he was, sitting in his godfather's embrace and trying to look as if it wasn't a big deal.

"**You're too nosy to live, Potter.**

"I agree with the fact that you're nosy, but I wouldn't want you dead because of it," Ron tried to joke.

**Scurrying around the school at Hallowe'en like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone."**

"**You let the troll in?"**

"Now he figures it out," Hermione muttered to herself.

"**Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls – you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there?**

"We did," Harry grimaced at the memory of the dead troll.

**Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off – and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly.**

"**Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror."**

"Mirror?" said a suspicious Tonks with a hard look towards Dumbledore. Sirius frowned at the mention of the mirror.

**It was only then that Harry realised what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised.**

"**This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmured, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this … but he's in London … I'll be far away by the time he gets back …"**

"I wouldn't count on it," Tonks murmured.

**All Harry could think of doing was to keep Quirrell talking and stop him concentrating on the Mirror.**

"Good idea," said Moody seriously. "Keep him talking and distracted."

"**I saw you and Snape in the Forest –" he blurted out.**

"**Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the Mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me – as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side …"**

McGonagall flinched a little and clenched her hands that were sitting on her lap.

**Quirrell came back out from behind the Mirror and stared hungrily into it.**

"**I see the Stone … I'm presenting it to my master … but where is it?"**

**Harry struggled against the ropes binding him, but they didn't give. He **_**had**_** to keep Quirrell from giving his whole attention to the Mirror.**

"**But Snape always seemed to hate me so much."**

"**Oh, he does," said Quirrell casually, "heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you **_**dead**_**."**

"Of course I didn't," Snape snarled suddenly.

"**But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing – I thought Snape was threatening you …"**

**For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.**

"Ah, now we'll find out what really happened then," Remus muttered apprehensively. He didn't like what they were reading so far.

"**Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions – he is a great wizard and I am weak –"**

"**You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped.**

"**He is with me wherever I go," said Quirrell quietly.**

"He's possessing him?" asked Remus sharply with a quick look at Harry who wouldn't meet his eyes.

"And Dumbledore, probably knowing that Voldemort was possessing Quirrell, allowed it," Tonks said with a snarl of her own. Remus felt a pang in his stomach. He had always looked up to Dumbledore and felt grateful for the education the Headmaster had allowed him to have. But the more he was hearing about his plans for Harry (and he was sure that the man was planning something with his cub) the less he felt he could trust him.

"**I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil.**

"They're not ridiculous ideas," Ron argued.

**Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it …**

"Wrong," Harry countered. "There is good and evil and those too weak to fight against the darkness in them."

He got surprised looks from most of the adults.

"Everyone has darkness inside them," he continued. "But they also have some good as well. It's their choices that make them who they are. Some choose to be on the Dark Side because it's easier, or because they're too frightened to fight back. Or because they were raised in circumstances that didn't allow them to see all sides of a coin."

"I could have easily turned to the Dark Side with the childhood I had," Harry admitted quietly.

Snape started to feel guilty. Harry had a worse childhood than he did and he was determined to be good. And what did he, Snape, do? He betrayed the only friend he had and caused her to be killed. He admitted to himself that Harry was a better person than he was.

It was painful to admit it to himself.

**Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me … decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me …"**

"Is that when he possessed him?" McGonagall asked fretfully.

"I don't think he was powerful enough to possess his whole body," Harry rationalized. "He had to drink unicorn's blood to become stronger."

**Quirrell's voice trailed away. Harry was remembering his trip to Diagon Alley – how could he have been so stupid? He'd seen Quirrell there that very day, shaken hands with him in the Leaky Cauldron.**

"It's because of this instance that I don't believe that he was possessed yet," Harry continued. "And my scar didn't hurt then."

**Quirrell cursed under his breath.**

"**I don't understand … is the Stone inside the Mirror? Should I break it?"**

"That would probably have been for the best," Remus said. "That way no one could get to the Stone."

**Harry's mind was racing.**

**What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment, he thought, is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. So if I look in the Mirror, I should see myself finding it – which means I'll see where it's hidden! But how can I look without Quirrell realising what I'm up to?**

"You can't, he'll know," Sirius said while crushing Harry even closer to himself.

**He tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing, but the ropes around his ankles were too tight: he tripped and fell over.**

"I bit my tongue," Harry remembered with a grimace.

**Quirrell ignored him. He was still talking to himself.**

"**What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"**

**And to Harry's horror, a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself.**

Neville shuddered at having to read about Voldemort. He would have preferred a different chapter.

"**Use the boy … Use the boy …"**

"Does he have to repeat himself?" Tonks asked trying to lighten the mood. It didn't work, however. She could see that Sirius' hackles were raised at the mere mention of Voldemort using the boy in his arms.

**Quirrell rounded on Harry.**

"**Yes – Potter – come here."**

**He clapped his hands once and the ropes binding Harry fell off.**

"That was a pretty stupid thing to do, for Quirrell," Tonks said. "Now Harry can move around again."

**Harry got slowly to his feet.**

"**Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the Mirror and tell me what you see."**

**Harry walked towards him.**

"**I must lie," he thought desperately. "I must look and lie about what I see, that's all."**

"I hope you think of a better lie than usual," Remus said edgily. He knew just how bad Harry was at keeping a stoic face when he was lying.

**Quirrell moved close behind him. Harry breathed in the funny smell that seemed to come from Quirrell's turban.**

"Eww, Eau-de-You-Know-Who," Ron grimaced in disgust. Harry, Tonks, Sirius and Remus looked like they were going to be sick.

"Did you have to mention it?" Harry groaned.

**He closed his eyes, stepped in front of the Mirror and opened them again.**

**He saw his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at him.**

"Why? What's happening," asked Remus sharply.

**It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone.**

"No way," breathed Tonks. "You got the Philosopher's Stone out of the Mirror?"

"That's dangerous – what if Voldemort finds out? He could easily take it from you," Remus continued in the same vein. Harry stayed quiet.

"Is that what you meant by the Dark Lord reading your mind?" Snape suddenly asked with a serious expression on his face. Harry nodded in reply.

**It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket – and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his real pocket. Somehow – incredibly – **_**he'd got the Stone**_**.**

"**Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"**

"You'd better come up with a good lie, Harry," Sirius whispered, terrified for his godson.

**Harry screwed up his courage.**

"You were very brave, standing up to Voldemort like this," Sirius added proudly. "Not many have that courage."

He thought of Wormtail and instead of the usual rage, felt only sadness. Where did they go wrong with their friend?

"**I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invented. "I – I've won the House Cup for Gryffindor."**

"Not a bad lie," Remus said in relief.

**Quirrell cursed again.**

"He believed you?" asked a shaken Tonks. Harry only frowned in reply.

"**Get out of the way," he said. As Harry moved aside he felt the Philosopher's Stone against his leg. Dare he make a break for it?**

"Do it," Tonks said fretfully.

**But he hadn't walked five paces before a high voice spoke, though Quirrell wasn't moving his lips.**

"**He lies … He lies …"**

"Again, he repeats himself," Tonks said.

"He likes hearing himself talk," Harry replied with a small wink. Snorting, Neville continued to read.

"**Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"**

**The high voice spoke again.**

"**Let me speak to him … face to face …"**

"**Master, you are not strong enough!"**

"He won't like hearing this," Sirius murmured.

"**I have strength enough … for this …"**

**Harry felt as if Devil's Snare was rooting him to the spot.**

"Now's not the time to freeze, pup," Sirius cried out.

**He couldn't move a muscle. Petrified,**

Hermione shuddered at the word. It was her most hated word since her second year.

**he watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.**

Harry went still.

**Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.**

Everyone in the room went as still as Harry did a moment ago.

Hermione was trembling with fear for her friend and Ron put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her.

Sirius burrowed his head in Harry's hair, trying to prove to himself that his boy was here, in his arms, and that he was alright.

Remus was shaking hard, trying to keep his wolf under control. It wanted to rage and go after Voldemort for daring to even think about talking to Harry.

Tonks grabbed Remus' hand and squeezed it hard while scowling at the book half angrily and half terrified.

McGonagall and Snape went pale.

Moody and Dumbledore didn't show any reaction. Dumbledore already knew what happened and Moody just didn't want others to know what went on in his mind.

Neville took a shuddering breath and continued reading.

"**Harry Potter …" it whispered.**

**Harry tried to take a step backwards but his legs wouldn't move.**

"**See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour …**

"If only you stayed that way," Harry muttered wistfully. He knew that Voldemort would keep trying and trying until he got his body back. He wouldn't give up until he somehow succeeded. This reminded him of Trelawney's prediction. He shuddered again. If the prediction came true… and Dumbledore made it sound like she already made one before… then it meant that Voldemort would succeed and Wormtail would help him on the way. This made Harry even more depressed that he couldn't catch the rat.

**I have form only when I can share another's body … but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds … Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks … you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the Forest … and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own … Now … why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"**

"He knew that you were lying," said Tonks nervously, re-grabbing Remus' hand. Remus ignored the tingles for now - he could re-examine them later. Now wasn't the time for it.

**So he knew. The feeling suddenly surged back into Harry's legs. He stumbled backwards.**

"Good boy, run away," Sirius mumbled into Harry's hair. He hadn't moved from his position since before.

"**Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me … or you'll meet the same end as your parents … They died begging me for mercy …"**

"LIAR!" Sirius snarled suddenly.

"**LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly.**

**Quirrell was walking backwards at him, so that Voldemort could still see him.**

"Hope he tripped over his feet," Tonks murmured angrily.

**The evil face was now smiling.**

"**How touching …" it hissed. "I always value bravery …**

"No, you don't," snarled Tonks.

**Yes, boy, your parents were brave … I killed your father first and he put up a courageous fight … but your mother needn't have died …**

Snape went still at the mention of Lily. Harry noticed that from the cocoon that was Sirius' hug. He had to wonder if Snape had feeling for his mother. He noticed that Snape never mentioned his mother before, always his father. He didn't know what to think about that, so he ignored it for the time being. It wasn't really the time to be thinking about it anyway.

**she was trying to protect you … Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."**

"**NEVER!"**

**Harry sprang towards the flame door, but Voldemort screamed, "SEIZE HIM!" and, next second, Harry felt Quirrell's hand close on his wrist. At once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Harry's scar;**

"See, that's why I think that he wasn't possessed in Diagon Alley," Harry said, giving voice to his previous thoughts. "If he had, my scar would have hurt then."

"That's actually a good observation, I was wondering about that," Remus said, still trying to calm himself down.

**his head felt as though it was about to split in two; he yelled, struggling with all his might, and to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him.**

Snape blinked. They had found Quirrell's dead body on the floor of the mirror chamber. The back of his head was gruesomely missing – only a bloody mess remained. His face and hands were suffering from third-degree burns as if someone breathed fire on him. _Was that Lily's protection?_ he wondered.

**The pain in his head lessened – he looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers – they were blistering before his eyes.**

"**Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again and Quirrell lunged, knocking Harry clean off his feet, landing on top of him, both hands around Harry's neck –**

Sirius suddenly let go of Harry and went to check his neck, as if trying to find the bruises that were long gone. He had a crazed look in his eyes and Harry wasn't sure what was going on in his godfather's mind. He let his godfather check him over silently though.

When Sirius was satisfied that his godson's neck wasn't bruised and that Harry was in fact, alright, he sagged in relief.

**Harry's scar was almost blinding him with pain, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony.**

"**Master, I cannot hold him – my hands – my hands!"**

"You deserve it, you prick," Tonks cried angry at the man who tried to strangle Harry.

**And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms – Harry could see they looked burnt, raw, red and shiny.**

"**Then kill him, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort.**

"Oh, Harry," squeaked Hermione and grabbed Harry's hand as well. Now all three of them were holding hands.

"I'm fine, Hermione," Harry gently reminded her.

**Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse, but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face –**

"**AAAARGH!"**

**Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering too, and then Harry knew: Quirrell couldn't touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain – his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him doing a curse.**

**Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off – the pain in Harry's head was building – he couldn't see – he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in Harry's own head, crying, "Harry! Harry!"**

"Someone finally showed up," Tonks sighed in relief.

**He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and fell into blackness, down … down … down …**

Now that it was finally over, Sirius sagged in relief even more.

"I have a feeling I'll hate reading these books if something like this happens every year," he mumbled into Harry's ear. Harry couldn't agree more.

**Something gold was glinting just above him. The Snitch!**

Dumbledore's lips twitched a bit.

**He tried to catch it, but his arms were too heavy.**

**He blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses. How strange.**

"Good, you're safe and probably in the Hospital Wing now," Remus said, feeling immensely relieved.

**He blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above him.**

"**Good afternoon, Harry" said Dumbledore.**

**Harry stared at him. Then he remembered. "Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir, quick –"**

"**Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."**

"**Then who does? Sir, I –"**

"**Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out."**

"Has she ever thrown you out before, sir?" Ron couldn't help but ask. Now that the danger was over, almost everyone chuckled a bit hysterically at Ron's attempt at humour.

"I believe she did once before," Dumbledore replied with a small twitch of his beard.

**Harry swallowed and looked around him. He realised he must be in the hospital wing. He was lying in a bed with white linen sheets and next to him was a table piled high with what looked like half the sweet-shop.**

"**Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows.**

"There's no secrets at Hogwarts," Ron agreed.

"They get found out eventually," Harry added, thinking of the Chamber of Secrets.

**I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat.**

"I told you they did try to send me one," Harry chuckled.

**No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."**

"They were so disappointed when they heard that," Ron grinned.

"**How long have I been in here?"**

"**Three days. Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."**

"Of course we were," Hermione said, squeezing Harry's hand. Ron nodded from his place next to her.

"**But sir, the Stone –"**

"One-track mind, this one has," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"And you sound like Yoda," Harry replied with a chuckle.

"**I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."**

"He shouldn't have been doing it on his own anyway," Tonks said with a frown. Dumbledore was in for one big scolding after they finished the book and put the kids to sleep. Though, she should probably stop calling them kids. They were teenagers and might take offence to being called that.

"**You got there? You got Hermione's owl?"**

Hedwig let out an indignant hoot.

"Sorry, girl," Harry immediately apologized to his owl. "I didn't know that she had sent you."

"**We must have crossed in mid-air.**

"And why didn't you go to the Ministry by Floo? You would have been there sooner," Tonks hammered another nail on Dumbledore's coffin. Sirius and Remus looked at each other darkly and were surprised that Snape also had a dark, thoughtful look on his face. Were they thinking of the same thing? That Dumbledore deliberately flew to London, just so that Harry would go down there alone? _No, not even Dumbledore was so cruel_, Remus tried to convince himself.

**No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left.**

"You think?" said Tonks sarcastically.

**I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you –"**

"**It was **_**you**_**."**

"**I feared I might be too late."**

"**You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer –"**

"I think he was concerned about you, Harry," Remus said dryly.

"**Not the Stone, boy, you – the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had. As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."**

"And why didn't you do that in the first place?" Tonks once again asked with a frown. "It would have prevented this whole fiasco and Harry wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"**Destroyed?" said Harry blankly. "But your friend – Nicolas Flamel –"**

"**Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You **_**did**_** do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat and agreed it's all for the best."**

"**But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"**

"**They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."**

**Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry's face.**

"**To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day. After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worst for them."**

**Harry lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling.**

"**Sir?" said Harry. "I've been thinking … Sir – even if the Stone's gone, Vol – … I mean, You-Know-Who –"**

"**Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."**

"That's true," Hermione agreed.

"**Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he?**

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged a grim look. He had tried to come back last year with the diary.

**I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"**

"**No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share … not being truly alive, he cannot be killed.**

Neville shuddered at that.

**He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies.**

Snape got a horrible feeling in his gut when he heard that part.

**Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time – and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."**

**Harry nodded, but stopped quickly, because it made his head hurt. Then he said, "Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me … things I want to know the truth about …"**

"Finally, some answers," Tonks burst out.

"**The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."**

"**Well … Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"**

Sirius sent Dumbledore a searching look. He knew that there was a prophecy about Harry and Voldemort and wondered if Dumbledore would tell young Harry the truth, but figured he wouldn't. He didn't like the fact that James and Lily told it to Sirius. He vowed that if Dumbledore didn't tell the truth to Harry in these books, that he would tell him himself.

**Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.**

"**Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Not today. Not now. You will know, one day … put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older … I know you hate to hear this … when you are ready, you will know."**

"Do you think I'm ready now?" Harry had to ask. Dumbledore paused in the middle of twirling his beard and sighed deeply. Harry took that as a negative answer.

**And Harry knew it would be no good to argue.**

"**But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"**

"That's actually a very good question," Tonks muttered. She had a guess as to why, but she wasn't sure if her guess was right.

"**Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realise that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign … to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection for ever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."**

Sirius pulled Harry for another hug when he saw the pain in his godson's eyes.

**Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the window-sill, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on the sheet. When he had found his voice again, Harry said, "And the Invisibility Cloak – do you know who sent it to me?"**

"**Ah – your father happened to leave it in my possession and I thought you might like it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things … your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."**

"True," Remus said with a small smile. How many times have they sneaked off for a midnight snack.

"**And there's something else …"**

"**Fire away."**

"**Quirrell said Snape –"**

"_**Professor**_** Snape, Harry."**

"**Yes, him –**

"Good save, Harry," Ron snorted. Snape felt a small twitch to his lip by Harry's cheek.

**Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?"**

"**Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."**

"**What?"**

"**He saved his life."**

"**What?"**

"**Yes …" said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt … I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quits. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace …"**

"I have a feeling that this wasn't the whole story," said Tonks shrewdly. Remus felt dread in his stomach. She would find out that he was a werewolf in the third book and then she would hate him.

**Harry tried to understand this but it made his head pound, so he stopped.**

"**And sir, there's one more thing …"**

"**Just the one?"**

"**How did I get the Stone out of the Mirror?"**

"I wondered that myself," Remus mumbled, still thinking of Tonks' reaction to the revelation in the third book.

"**Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something.**

"Yes, it is – leaving a one-and-a-half year old baby on the doorstep of his hateful relatives, bringing a dangerous artefact to school and leaving said baby to fight Voldemort alone. You really have some brilliant ideas," Tonks said sarcastically.

"Not a baby anymore," Harry piped up.

"That's not important at the moment," Tonks dismissed him with a wave of her hand as she glared at Dumbledore.

"For me it is," Harry mumbled with a pout.

**You see, only one who wanted to **_**find**_** the Stone – find it, but not use it – would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes … Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one,**

"Eww," Ron cried out in disgust.

**and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them –**

"I'm not surprised," Remus muttered.

**but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"**

**He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth.**

**Then he choked and said, "Alas! Earwax!"**

Neville and Hermione chuckled at that, while Ron snorted.

**Madam Pomfrey, the matron, was a nice woman, but very strict.**

"**Just five minutes," Harry pleaded.**

"**Absolutely not."**

"**You let Professor Dumbledore in …"**

"**Well, of course, that was the Headmaster, quite different. You need rest."**

"**I am resting, look, lying down and everything. Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey …"**

"**Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes **_**only**_**."**

"Wow, she actually let them stay longer," Tonks said, impressed by Harry's negotiation skills.

**And she let Ron and Hermione in.**

"**Harry!"**

**Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around him again, but Harry was glad she held herself in as his head was still very sore.**

"Thanks for that, by the way," Harry said with a smile towards his best female friend.

"**Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to – Dumbledore was so worried –"**

"**The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What **_**really**_** happened?"**

**It was one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumours. Harry told them everything: Quirrell; the Mirror; the Stone and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places and, when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud.**

"You're a really good story teller," Hermione said with a smile.

"Yeah," Ron agreed.

"**So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"**

"**That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that – what was it? – 'to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure'."**

"**I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how mad his hero was.**

Sirius snorted at that. Dumbledore's beard twitched as they watched Ron's ears pink again.

"**So what happened to you two?" said Harry.**

"**Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round – that took a while – and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the Entrance Hall. He already knew – he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."**

"**D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's Cloak and everything?"**

"Yeah, that's what I want to know too," Tonks said with a frown.

"**Well," Hermione exploded, "if he did – I mean to say – that's terrible – you could have been killed."**

"**No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the Mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could …"**

"Don't defend his actions, Harry," Sirius warned him suddenly with a growl. Remus was also growling softly.

"I'm half a mind to transfer you to another school at the moment," Sirius admitted after he calmed himself down enough to talk. "At least there the Headmaster wouldn't put you in unnecessary danger."

"Can you actually do that?" asked a shaken Harry.

"I am your official guardian, being your godfather," Sirius replied. "And once I get my pardon, you'll be coming to live with me."

He gave Dumbledore a challenging look.

Dumbledore sighed but didn't reply. He knew that Sirius wouldn't listen to him.

"**Yeah, Dumbledore's barking, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course – you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you –**

Harry's stomach filled with butterflies as he thought of Cho, the Ravenclaw Seeker. He felt a blush come to his face as he realized that they'll be reading about his crush once they started reading the third book. Hermione sent him a mischievous look as she realized why he was blushing. Harry just ignored her.

**but the food'll be good."**

"And that always makes things better," Hermione muttered with a roll of her eyes. Ron and his food.

**At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.**

"**You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she said firmly.**

"Wow, fifteen minutes. Must be a record," Sirius said with a grin.

**After a good night's sleep, Harry felt nearly back to normal.**

"**I want to go to the feast," he told Madam Pomfrey as she straightened his many sweet-boxes. "I can, can't I?"**

"**Professor Dumbledore says you are to be allowed to go," she said sniffily, as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realise how risky feasts could be.**

McGonagall chucked at her friend's antics.

"**And you have another visitor."**

"**Oh good," said Harry. "Who is it?"**

**Hagrid sidled through the door as he spoke. As usual when he was indoors, Hagrid looked too big to be allowed. He sat down next to Harry, took one look at him and burst into tears.**

"Poor Hagrid, he must be feeling really guilty about everything," Tonks said sympathetically.

"**It's – all – my – ruddy – fault!" he sobbed, his face in his hands. "I told the evil git how ter get past Fluffy! I told him! It was the only thing he didn't know an' I told him! Yeh could've died! All fer a dragon egg! I'll never drink again!**

"He didn't keep his promise," Harry said amusedly.

**I should be chucked out an' made ter live as a Muggle!"**

"No need to overreact, Hagrid," said McGonagall soothingly as if though Hagrid was in the room with them.

"**Hagrid!" said Harry, shocked to see Hagrid shaking with grief and remorse, great tears leaking down into his beard. "Hagrid, he'd have found out somehow, this is Voldemort we're talking about, he'd have found out even if you hadn't told him."**

"**Yeh could've died!" sobbed Hagrid. "An' don' say the name!"**

"**VOLDEMORT!" Harry bellowed, and Hagrid was so shocked, he stopped crying. "I've met him and I'm calling him by his name. Please cheer up, Hagrid, we saved the Stone, it's gone, he can't use it. Have a Chocolate Frog, I've got loads …"**

"You're a good friend to Hagrid," Remus said with a smile.

**Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and said, "That reminds me. I've got yeh a present."**

"**It's not a stoat sandwich, is it?" said Harry anxiously and at last Hagrid gave a weak chuckle.**

"And you're also good at cheering people up," Neville added, remembering how Harry cheered him up by saying that Malfoy was in stinking Slytherin.

"**Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off yesterday ter fix it. 'Course, he shoulda sacked me instead – anyway, got yeh this …"**

**It seemed to be a handsome, leather-covered book. Harry opened it curiously. It was full of wizard photographs. Smiling and waving at him from every page were his mother and father.**

"That was the best present I got, aside from Hedwig," Harry said with a smile at his owl. Remus remembered Hagrid's letter asking him for some photographs of Lily and James for Harry. He had copied almost his entire collection and sent them over the next day.

"**Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends, askin' fer photos … Knew yeh didn' have any … D'yeh like it?"**

**Harry couldn't speak, but Hagrid understood.**

**Harry made his way down to the end-of-year feast alone that night. He had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing-about, insisting on giving him one last check-up, so the Great Hall was already full. It was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the House Cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.**

Snape's mood plummeted and he scowled at the reminder of the unfairness.

**When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush and then everybody started talking loudly at once. He slipped into a seat between Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at him.**

"I still do," Harry added to that.

**Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.**

"**Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were … you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts …**

"Only Dumbledore," Ron said fondly.

"**Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."**

**A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Harry could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.**

"**Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."**

Tonks frowned at that. What was Dumbledore playing at? Noticing Snape's perpetual glower she figured it wasn't something that the Potions professor liked.

**The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.**

"**Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out.**

"Sorry, but you couldn't have awarded them points before? Harry was unconscious for a few days at least. You had to wait until the feast to do so? Isn't that a bit unfair towards Slytherins? They worked hard for their points and you just trampled all over their happiness by doing that," Tonks had to say. Harry quietly agreed with her – it was what he was thinking about a while ago.

**Let me see. Yes …**

"**First – to Mr Ronald Weasley …"**

**Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with bad sunburn.**

"Harry," Ron groaned as almost everyone chuckled at the description. The chuckles faded into silence as Neville continued to read.

"… **for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."**

Ron wasn't quite as happy now as he was then after what Tonks said. He still hated Slytherins, no question about it, but he was mature enough to realize that what Dumbledore did might not be fair.

**Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other Prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"**

"I didn't hear him say that," said a surprised Ron. He didn't think his older brother thought about him much. Or cared about him for that matter.

"He's your brother, of course he cares," Harry hurried to tell him. "Perhaps it's you and your brothers that don't notice that."

He felt bad having said that, but even though Percy wasn't his favourite Weasley, he noticed that the Weasley brothers he knew didn't really include Percy most of the time. Fred and George were always making fun of him and stealing his Prefect or Head Boy badge. He wondered how Percy felt about that.

**At last there was silence again.**

"**Second – to Miss Hermione Granger … for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."**

**Hermione buried her face in her arms; Harry strongly suspected she had burst into tears.**

Hermione's blush was answer enough.

**Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves – they were a hundred points up.**

"**Third – to Mr Harry Potter …" said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "… for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."**

**The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points – exactly the same as Slytherin. They had drawn for the House Cup – if only Dumbledore had given Harry just one more point.**

**Dumbledore raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.**

"You should have left it at that," McGonagall suddenly said, feeling ashamed of winning that year's cup for the first time.

"**There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom."**

**Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before. Harry, still cheering, nudged Ron in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind curse put on him.**

"**Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."**

**He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible forced smile. He caught Harry's eye and Harry knew at once that Snape's feelings towards him hadn't changed one jot. This didn't worry Harry. It seemed as though life would be back to normal next year, or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts.**

"Which means never," Remus murmured.

**It was the best evening of Harry's life, better than winning at Quidditch or Christmas or knocking out mountain trolls … he would never, ever forget tonight.**

**Harry had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To their great surprise, both he and Ron passed with good marks;**

"Of course you did, with Hermione nagging you," Sirius teased the green-eyed boy.

**Hermione, of course, came top of the year.**

"Of course," Neville, Ron and Harry said in unison.

**Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.**

"Good motto," Sirius chuckled.

**And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets;**

"He always runs from me," Neville lamented.

**notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays ("I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly);**

"Me and James hoped that too," Sirius remembered with a fond smile.

**Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.**

**It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.**

"**You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "both of you – I'll send you an owl."**

The mention of owls made the trio's face fall as they remembered Dobby the house elf. Harry wondered what happened to him after he was set free.

"**Thanks," said Harry. "I'll need something to look forward to."**

**People jostled them as they moved forwards towards the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:**

"**Bye, Harry!"**

"**See you, Potter!"**

"**Still famous," said Ron, grinning at him.**

"**Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.**

**He, Ron and Hermione passed through the gateway together.**

"**There he is, Mum, there he is, look!"**

Harry started to feel uncomfortable again.

**It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.**

"**Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mum! I can see –"**

"Sorry about Ginny," Ron apologized embarrassedly.

"**Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."**

**Mrs Weasley smiled down at them.**

"**Busy year?" she said.**

"**Very," said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the jumper, Mrs Weasley".**

"**Oh, it was nothing, dear."**

"**Ready are you?"**

**It was Uncle Vernon, still purple-faced, still moustached, still looking furious at the nerve of Harry carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary people. Behind him stood Aunt Petunia and Dudley, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry.**

"**You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs Weasley.**

"**In a manner of speaking," said Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away.**

"How rude," Tonks said with a scowl. She would have preferred it if the Dursleys weren't mentioned at all.

**Harry hung back for a last word with Ron and Hermione.**

"**See you over the summer, then."**

"**Hope you have – er – a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly after Uncle Vernon, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.**

"**Oh, I will," said Harry,**

"You will?" Neville asked surprised. From what they read about the Dursleys they were a really unpleasant sort.

**and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face.**

"Why would you be smiling?" Sirius asked perplexed.

"**They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer …"**

Sirius and Remus chuckled at that. Even Snape had to smirk at that.

"That was the end of the book," Neville informed them as he closed the book.

Sirius, Remus and Tonks exchanged looks and then turned to Dumbledore. Harry caught the exchange and faked a big yawn.

"I don't know about you, but I'm spent," he said to the room in general. Hermione caught on quickly after one short look at the determined look on Sirius' face. She faked a yawn as well and stretched. Her body was all stiff after sitting for so long.

"I think I'm going to go to sleep," she said to Neville and Ron, who was about to say something but yawned instead.

"Yeah, good idea," he said, changing his mind after a kick from his friend.

Neville, Ron and Hermione stood up from their seats and went to one of the doors in the room. Harry hugged his godfather for a few seconds and then went to hug Remus too (to Remus' surprise).

"Good night," he said to Tonks and the professors in the room. "See you tomorrow morning."

"Good night, Harry," Remus, Tonks and Sirius said with a small smile as they watched their favourite boy walk from the room.


End file.
